Heavy Machinery's Huge Performance, nWo Speaks, More WWE SmackDown Fallout

Friday's edition of SmackDown was the final stop before WWE Elimination Chamber 2020. In order to build that card, most of the show was dedicated to a tag team gauntlet match to determine the last team to enter the Chamber.

Heavy Machinery pulled off an impressive performance against a stacked field, including pinning SmackDown tag team champions The Miz and John Morrison, The Usos and The New Day.

The New World Order appeared on A Moment of Bliss to celebrate the group's WWE Hall of Fame induction. Sami Zayn interrupted to put himself, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakmura over before Braun Strowman ruined their fun.

Bayley and Sasha Banks continued a dominant run together on SmackDown by putting down the biggest challengers to the SmackDown Women's Championship, Naomi and Lacey Evans.

Sheamus continued to dominate the two men willing to step up to him by Brogue Kicking Apollo Crews out of a match following his refusal to take Shorty G's help.

The night was all about building momentum to Elimination Chamber on Sunday and WrestleMania in April, and many moments made lasting impacts.

Heavy Machinery May Be Ready for Their Big Break This Year

Credit: WWE.com

Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville fought Carmella and Dana Brooke, with Dolph Ziggler in the corner of Fire and Desire. God's Greatest Creation hit a bicycle knee after a distraction from The Showoff to win. Rose told Otis backstage that she was not interested in him anymore after being stood up.

Otis and Tucker went into the tag team gauntlet match first, and they defeated The New Day, The Lucha House Party, The Usos, and SmackDown tag team champions The Miz and John Morrison. Ziggler and Robert Roode took advantage for the damage Heavy Machinery had taken to win.

The story between Rose and Otis has not meant much to WWE's main stories. The gauntlet match changed that. It was an incredible result for the fresh tag team.

It feels likely that either Otis vs. Ziggler or Heavy Machinery vs. Ziggler and Roode will happen at WrestleMania in some capacity. With results like this, it might get a surprise spotlight on the night.

The Showoff is not the best man to help elevate new stars. He has never truly got over a fresh talent in his decade in WWE. However, he can sell for anyone. The goal should be Rose and Otis together for the fun of it, but it will be interesting to see whether it elevates Otis or Heavy Machinery to the next level.

Nights like this, even if they feel heavily overdone, could make the big man at the core of this story a star.

WWE Still Has No Idea How to Use Legends

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross hosted A Moment of Bliss, with the guests being nWo's Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. Sami Zayn interrupted with Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura to tell the old men to stand aside, only for Braun Strowman to arrive and send them running.

It was an awkward segment to open the show because the three legends barely sounded like they wanted to be there. None of them needed to be around to make this segment work.

It is easy to use the spotlight of legends to help the current roster. But it is important though to use them efficiently. You need to have wrestlers in the segment who care and address them on a level that will get people excited.

Zayn and Waltman would have been great playing off each other alone. Nash could have stood face-to-face with The Monster Among Men and talked to him about what it takes to be a champion. Hall could have had a short backstage interaction with Cesaro.

Bliss had nothing to ask the nWo members that mattered. The interruption was the same thing WWE has shown week after week between Zayn and Strowman.

Sasha Banks Suddenly Looks Like the Only Option for Bayley at WrestleMania

Sasha Banks teamed with Bayley to fight Lacey Evans and Naomi. After The Sassy Southern Belle was injured outside, The Legit Boss connected with a hanging double knee drop in the corner for the win. Backstage, the two seemed more interested in putting themselves over as individuals than as a team.

With The Role Model putting away Naomi multiple weeks in a row, it does not seem like anyone could be left for the SmackDown women's champion to face, especially with Banks by her side. That's why it feels like the time to pull off a big turn.

If WWE had saved Bayley vs. Naomi for WrestleMania, that would have worked. But the biggest money match the blue brand has is The Role Model vs. The Boss. Nothing else comes close. It is a match that has always worked and been underrepresented on major WWE cards.

Banks can turn on Bayley, turning babyface in the process, setting up the perfect match to compete with the other women's singles matches at WrestleMania.

It would be an easy story to tell and a hard one to mess up. SmackDown's women's division will need a big shake-up post-WrestleMania because this is the last major match left on the brand.

Sheamus Needs to Be Used Better

Apollo Crews refused the help of Shorty G once again to fight Sheamus one on one. This ended as expected, with a Brogue Kick within two minutes.

The Fella returned at the start of 2020, and he's been doing the same thing ever since. As a multiple time WWE champion, it makes no sense that he is stuck in neutral this long after coming back.

Shorty and Crews may be solid performers, but they have nothing to add to Sheamus' story. They are just going to keep getting squashed. It would be best for both parties to move on as quickly as possible.

While Crews seems headed toward a heel turn, The Fella should get an opponent who can challenge him. Braun Strowman will need a fresh challenger after WWE Elimination Chamber. The two men could have a physical war at WrestleMania 36.

If that can't happen, at least put Sheamus against a top competitor or rising talent who will give him more of a fight week to week.