There was a segment on this week’s WWE Friday Night SmackDown featuring Bayley and Sasha Banks that was done in the Performance Center without developmental talent in the building. The segment was shot in a way so fans watching at home could not see that the building was empty. Aside from Bayley and Banks, the only people in the building for the segment were the cameraman and the announcers at ringside. The crowd noise was added in post-production and a green screen was used so that they could insert Stephanie McMahon into the segment.
It’s unclear why this needed to be done but it’s no secret that there were a lot of rewrites as Tuesday was another chaotic day for wrestlers and employees at the tapings.
On Tuesday, Vince McMahon had to rip up the script and rewrite SmackDown because certain wrestlers were not available. It has not been said why some names were not available but one possibility is COVID-19 tests not being ready on time. There have been many mainstream media outlets reporting on tests not getting back in a timely fashion so that might be what happened here.
Among the names not at the PC were Daniel Bryan (at home because of Brie Bella giving birth), Braun Strowman (he appeared in a taped video), AJ Styles, and Nikki Cross. Big E appeared but only in a backstage segment.
Stephanie was on the show to announced that Bayley and Banks will defend their respective singles titles at SummerSlam. At SummerSlam, Banks will face the winner of a Triple Brand Battle Royal that will take place this Monday on Raw. The Battle Royal will feature stars from Raw, SmackDown and NXT.
Related: Vince McMahon revealed three of his favorite WWE stars during a company meeting.
You can see a clip of the Banks, Bayley, McMahon segment below.
“Now, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 what’s best for business.”@StephMcMahon delivers a shock to @itsBayleyWWE and @SashaBanksWWE’s #SummerSlam plans! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/8OqwptV1je
— WWE (@WWE) August 8, 2020
