WWE Friday Night Smackdown preview and schedule: March 5, 2021

FastLane PPV announcements will be the main focus on tonight's Friday Night SmackDown, while the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble match winner is also set to compete against one-half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions when the show airs from the Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay, Florida.

After surviving the brutal structure known as the Elimination Chamber, Daniel Bryan was forced to immediately face Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship. A Guillotine Chokehold was enough for The Tribal Chief to slaughter the 'sacrificial lamb’ and have another successful title defense. But obviously, the challenger wasn’t happy with this experience.

Daniel Bryan and Jey Uso then battled it out last week in the Smackdown main event with the stipulation that if Bryan defeated Jey, he would get one more shot at the WWE Universal Championship at FastLane on March 21.

This match ended in a double count-out, so Bryan didn’t earn his title shot. To make things worse, Reigns unleashed an attack on Bryan once the match was over. The next morning on Talking Smack, Reigns’ Special Council Paul Heyman revealed to Bryan that he had been authorized to offer him a rematch with Uso on this week's SmackDown.

The stipulation remains the same (If Bryan wins, he would get his Universal Title Match at WWE FastLane). But if he loses, then he would have to acknowledge Reigns as The Head of the Table and the best competitor he ever faced in the WWE.

Bryan accepted the offer with an added condition that the rematch will have to take place inside a Steel Cage to assure a fair contest. WWE has made this match official, just a few minutes ago, hinting that the Universal Title could be on the line at the upcoming pay-per-view. Meanwhile, chances of seeing a tag team match are still there.

WWE Officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville mentioned during SmackDown on FOX that they had considered a tag team match for FastLane with the lineup of Daniel Bryan and WWE Hall of Famer Edge vs. Jey Uso and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

Edge and Reigns also mentioned that the match is in the works in separate backstage segments. If Bryan fails to beat Uso again then WWE might make this huge PPV tag match official.

Ahead of Smackdown, WWE has announced that WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler will defend their titles against Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks at FastLane 2021. This will be a rematch between the two teams from Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, where Jax and Baszler successfully defended the belt.

#SmackDown Women's Champion @SashaBanksWWE and her #WrestleMania challenger @BiancaBelairWWE aim to dethrone WWE Women's Tag Team Champions @QoSBaszler & @NiaJaxWWE at #WWEFastlane, March 21 at 7e/4p on @peacockTV & @WWENetwork! https://t.co/U2RpvBiAMW

— WWE (@WWE) March 5, 2021

Heading into another title opportunity, Bianca Belair gets a chance to stack some momentum in her team’s favor when she battles Shayna Baszler in a one-on-one contest on Smackdown.

Belair had won the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble Match and last week she chose Sasha Banks as her WrestleMania 37 opponent. The question is whether she can get along with The Legit Boss to get a taste of the first title win at FastLane.

Speaking of the upcoming PPV, it seems like we are going to get a singles encounter between Cesaro and Seth Rollins. Since his return, the latter one has tried to convince everyone how great of a leader he could be on Smackdown.

But the self-proclaimed savior had another failed attempt when confronting Cesaro. The Swiss Cyborg caught him with a swing before dropping him with an uppercut. Now, it’s time for Rollins to fire back and continue the feud.

One week after a brutal assault on Intercontinental Champion Big E with the help of steel steps, Apollo Crews emerged wearing new ring-gears signifying that he belongs to royalty. His powerful Nigerian routes alongside a mean streak were enough to upstage Shinsuke Nakamura in a rematch.

So, the "real" Apollo Crews could be back in pursuit of the mid-card championship. But is E medically cleared to put his title on the line? We’re likely to find the answers when Smackdown airs the latest episode from the ThunderDome.