This Weeks WWE Smackdown LIVE Best Bits
A shocking return leaves Kevin Owens Stunned
Following this past Sunday's WWE Battleground pay per view the newly crowned three time United States Champion Kevin Owens looked to kick start things off on this weeks episode of Smackdown LIVE. Boasting about his victory over the weekend Owens looked to be back at the top and with the US Championship sat firmly on his shoulder once again Owens had all the power announcing that he would not be defending his title this week and instead will bring back the open challenge during next weeks show. However, this is pro wrestling and of course things did not go down that way at all and it was only matter of time before former champion AJ Styles' music hit and the arena as always went crazy for the phenomenal one. As I mentioned in my Battleground review the match up on Sunday between these two superstars was a good solid match that ranked as my personal favourite of the night. I have admitted that ending wasn't the best and the match itself could so easily have been a lot better however it was still one that I enjoyed and I don't have many bad comments to actually say. In the opening of last nights show Styles demanded a rematch for the United States championship but yet again there was another twist in the story . Returns and debuts is something the WWE and most wrestling promotions in fact really struggle with. Thanks to social media its borderline impossible to keep such big segments such as a return or debut a secret and ninety nine percent of the time fans know exactly what's going to happen and who's going to make an appearance on each show. This week the WWE have managed to pull off two total surprise returns. The first this past Sunday at Battleground which of course saw the Great Khali make a shock appearance assisting Jinder Mahal's victory in the main event and the second during last nights opening segment where Chris Jericho surprised the world when his music hit and he made his way down to the ring also to confront the US Champion and demand a rematch considering he is still earned one. It's been months since we last saw Jericho on our screens after (kayfabe) Owens injured him taking the also former US Champion out of action. Honestly, I had no idea Jericho was even in the arena last night and his return was a total surprise. I've touched on it before but surprise returns are so difficult nowadays and it was such a special moment hearing his music hit and having that rare feeling you get as a big wrestling fan. The segment did progress quickly and it was amazing seeing Jericho back in the ring with his list and his stupid idiot lines. The opening finished off with Shane McMahon announcing that this weeks main event would see Kevin Owens defend his United States Championship against both AJ Styles and Chris Jericho, I'll be talking about this in more detail later!Lack of competition in tag team divison
I really wanted to avoid going on big rants in this weeks highlights posts but considering that hasn't really gone to plan I might as well have another little one here now. The past twelve months or so I have spent a lot of time talking about the WWE tag team divison. As a big fan of tag team wrestling I really did grow up watching the best and obsessing over the likes of The Hardy Boyz, The Dudlyez, and Edge and Christian, a time where tag team wrestling really was at its best. For the first time in a long time, thanks to NXT, tag team wrestling has found life again and there has been so much to look forward to when it comes to this divison. However, there is constant lack of competition and this is something that has really grabbed my attention particularly over the past couple of weeks. This year alone we have seen Big Cass and Enzo, Owens and Jericho (who I'm still counting), DIY, and American Alpha all head their separate ways and with only one team I'm really behind splitting up I've been left pretty frustrated with the state of the tag team divison. We do still have those down in NXT such as Heavy machinery and Authors of Pain who are killing at the moment but the lack of competition up on the main roster is driving me crazy. While we do have quite a few teams over on Monday night RAW they continue to be used poorly and the likes of Anderson and Gallows really have been pushed aside and rarely even used. Over on Smackdown LIVE, however they do have a few teams also that just are not being used at all and its such a shame. They have the teams, not enough, but what they really need to start doing is using what they have. I'm totally okay with the New Day vs the Usos carrying on over to SummerSlam, they deliver some brilliant matches as they did on Sunday night and the chemistry between the two teams is actually really strong. The attack the Usos delivered to the New Day was well done yesterday and a good part of the show last night, however what happens after SummerSlam? Who challenges the New Day (if they retain). I am going to be talking about the tag team divison up on the main roster in a future post so keep an eye out for that.Jinder Mahal Demands SummerSlam opponent
This past weekend Jinder Mahal successfully defended his WWE Championship for a third time against Randy Orton thanks to the help of both the Singh Brothers and a returning Jinder Mahal (you can check out what I thought of that main event in Monday's post which will be linked bellow). On the show this week Jinder set out to demand an opponent be announced to challenge him for his WWE Championship at SummerSlam. I liked how determined and confident Jinder came across when it came to an opponent for one of the biggest pay per views of the year. Instead of running from the competition he was calling it. After talking of his victory from Battleground Jinder came across like a strong confident champion and again gave more reason to really get behind him. Looking online last night however and over the past few days I've really noticed that fans are still complaining about Jinder being champion and honestly... get over it. At this point I really don't see what the problem actually is. Jinder is forever proving himself and while his matches have been far far far from match year of the year quality his character development has been brilliant and with more layers being added to his character he's coming across like a real champion and honestly, cut the guy some slack, he's doing well. As far as SummerSlam goes I am expecting him to drop the title. I think it's great that he's heading into one of the biggest pay per views of the WWE calendar but with John Cena looking to be guy challenging him there's no way he's leaving Brooklyn still the WWE Champion. Talking of John Cena it was the sixteen time champion who came out to confront Jinder challenging him to a title match at SummerSlam. It obviously came as no surprise. We all expected Cena to be the guy to take on Mahal for the title however, in a little twit, Smackdown LIVE general manager Daniel Bryan was first to remind Cena that this is the land of opportunity and he needed to earn a title match and so next week he will face Shinsuke Nakamura and the winner of the match will challenge Mahal at SummerSlam for the WWE Championship. I liked this. Cena VS Nakamura is a dream match and while its sure to end with Corbin having some kind of role in the deciding factor I'm still very excited to see those two superstars go head to head next week!An Awkward time for Women's Division
I'm gonna keep this one short and simple because the past couple of weeks I really have spent a lot of time complaining about the work from the women's divison up on the main roster. You guys know that when it comes to women's wrestling I always try my best to stay as positive as possible but boy do the WWE make it difficult. I do think that the Mae Young classic is going to see some brilliant wrestling and really change the game for women's wrestling however, what we are seeing from RAW and Smackdown LIVE at the moment just isn't promising and I can't say I'm really enjoying any of the work. I think there has been a lot of potential in certain stories including the Alexa Bliss VS Sasha Banks feud which I have no idea what so ever while they dropped! One of the things I've really seen a lot of potential in is the work between Lana and Tamina however, their booking has just been really strange. The lack of momentum on their side is worrying and I really do hope the WWE know exactly what they're doing here and have something bigger planned. This past Sunday they both were eliminated fairly early in the fatal five way match which I wasn't expecting but again last night they picked up another loss. Okay, so last nights loss may not have been as a big of a deal. Lana is still clearly struggling and the story they're telling is Lana just can't get a win, she needs to toughen up and just get better in the ring and for some reasons Tamina is the women the WWE have paired her with to help her achieve that. The story works and I like it and honestly I do see it going somewhere if the WWE keep going with it. I liked what we saw last night but I do think we need some momentum on their side. I know a lot of people will prefer to see Lana go back to her manager role with Rusev and I agree that was better for her but lets just run with it. The other issue I have is with the title picture. I haven't loved Naomi''s title run but she's doing her best. Her SummerSlam opponent however is totally wrong and I have no idea why they didn't go with Charlotte simply because she is the bigger name. However, again , I'm trying to stay positive and while Natalya's mic makes me wanna cut my ears off she deserves a push and I'm glad shes getting such a big match and opportunity.A new United States Champion is Crowned
Following this opening segment Kevin Owens was set to defend his United States Championship in a huge triple threat against Chis Jericho and AJ Styles. A big big match up I was super excited for this one and I tried my best to fight through tired eyes just to tune into what will go down as one of the
This weeks Smackdown LIVE was actually okay. I don't have many bad comments to say. We had an amazing shock return, a brilliant main event, a title change, and some amazing matches announced for next week. As always any recent blog posts will be linked bellow and that does include this weeks WWE Battleground highlights. I have also started Snapchatting as well as live tweeting throughout all WWE shows so make sure you go add me there at vtezangi. Finally, you can let me know what you thought of Battleground and RAW by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria
Recent Blog Posts:
WWE Monday Night RAW Highlights 24/7/17
WWE Battleground Highlights : Worth the Watch?
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