Is Smackdown LIVE on it's Way back to the Top?
A Glorious new Arrival
Its safe to say that this past week in the WWE has been pretty... well... glorious. With things kick starting on Saturday night the NXT roster once again took over Brooklyn New York for the third year in a row. The card was stacked full of brilliant must see matches, title changes, and shocking new arrivals. The main event saw Bobby Roode defend his NXT championship against fan favourite Drew McIntyre in what was a solid match up. Now, Roode unfortunately did not walk away with gold around his waist come the end of the night after McIntyre was able to pin him after what was a hard fought battle between two of NXT's biggest stars, however, Roode has remained a strong talking point throughout the week. As the show came to an end we as fans had so many questions on our minds including when and how soon Roode would be joining the main roster now that he no longer had the title keeping him there. Well we didn't have to wait too long to find out. On Monday night it was rumored that Bobby was backstage during RAW and everyone including myself got away too excited. Speculating when he would make his debut on the night I was left rather disappointed when the only arrival we got was sixteen time world champion John Cena. The night ended and we still had no Bobby Roode. Twenty four hours later however and the glorious one once again was a talking point. With fans desperate to see him make his mark on the main roster after a brilliant run in NXT I know I and many others started to grow a little impatient. Within the first hour of the show however we finally got what we wanted. With Aiden English in the middle of the ring cutting his usual sing song promo we all sat slightly bored out of minds until that Glorious entrance theme hit and our former NXT champion was here, finally, on Smackdown LIVE. Honestly, while I was disappointed we didn't see him debut on Monday I'm so so glad he was drafted to Smackdown LIVE. The blue brand has been calling out for new names and bigger stars. The roster has been feeling pretty empty still and has remained suffering from the after effects of the superstar shake up a few months back. The WWE Championship picture speaks volumes and proves this point completely. I've really struggled to enjoy the work from the main event picture and what has really been needed is a new additions to the roster. The arrival of Bobby Roode is huge and exactly what Smackdown LIVE needed. He's a well traveled, well experienced, big name. He generates huge attention wherever he goes and is bound to bring a heck of a lot to the blue brand. This is completely a step in the right direction and I'm excited to see where both Smackdown LIVE and Bobby Roode go in the near future.The perfect new Role for Lana
Two thousand and seventeen has been a long interesting year for Lana. From joining the cast of Total Divas to kick starting her own wrestling career away from husband Rusev. Of course she has remained a big talking point and fan favourite despite the mixed opinions. When I found out that Lana would finally kick start her wrestling career I was honestly super excited. I've been following her career for a while now and during that time I've managed to see little clips here and there of what she can do in the ring and I've always been pretty damn impressed. The last series of Total Divas constantly showed how passionate she is about wrestling and making an impact on her own and I was really proud and happy to see her finally get what she wants. The WWE did make us wait for her Smackdown LIVE debut but when she did eventually make an appearance again I was very happy with what I saw. They had given her a massive change in character but I didn't want to thin k too much about the change and just enjoy what we were getting from her now because whether we liked it or not it was what we were getting. On the night her mic work was as strong and sharp as it's always been and she proved that she was going to make this new character work within seconds of being on screen. The crowd reaction for her also told the WWE and Lana everything they needed to know. She was majorly over and her reaction was the best of all the women standing in that ring on the night. In the weeks that followed Lana struggled to prove herself in the ring. Decent spots here and there were not enough. Her matches were weak and her booking honestly was terrible. I understand what they were doing with her and the story the WWE were trying to tell but it didn't work and fans turned their heads very quickly. They then throw her into a little alliance story with Tamina and again it generated mixed views. Personally, I really liked it and saw the potential but the problem was how messy the whole thing was. You couldn't tell who was using, what the point was and where it was going. It looked as though Tamina was trying to teach Lana how to be tougher and eventually get what she wants but it was working in the slightest. This week however we saw a change in direction. A backstage segment saw Lana taking back the role she owns, as manger. Guiding Tamina to championship gold is a story I can totally get behind. Lana works best in this role. That's not to say she should never enter a wrestling ring but managing Tamina is a far better role and will work much much better for both superstars. Again, I'm really excited to see where this story and alliance will go and it's nice to see Smackdown LIVE take a step in the right direction with it's women's divison and continue using all its talent in the divison.Huge return shakes up the Smackdown LIVE Roster
It's been a year since the WWE decided to bring back the brand extension. A decision that has turned out to be a damn good one. We have seen the arrival of new stars, the return of others and the rise of many and it's safe to say it's been an interesting year. One of the highlights of the brand extension last year was the shocking news that former United States Champion Shelton Benjamin would be returning to the WWE to join the Smackdown LIVE roster. Honestly, I heard this news and marked out like a full on crazy girl! I grew up admiring Shelton massively and I have always gone back and checked out his work over and over again and come here to talk about the man himself. He is one seriously underutilized superstar who's wrestling ability is just insane. Unfortunately, not long after it was announced he was going to be making his huge return it was also announced that he had suffered an injury that required surgery meaning his return to the WWE was something we would all have to wait much longer to see. Throughout the past twelve months I have continued to think about Shelton and his return to the WWE hoping it would still happen and it has actually remained a big topic of conversation in the world of pro wrestling. There were times I worried we would never see him back inside a WWE ring but all fears were banished a few weeks back when it was revealed he would in fact be making a return, that return taking place the first Smackdown LIVE after SummerSlam. In a backstage segment Daniel Bryan revealed to Chad Gable that he would be getting a new tag team partner after making a deal with RAW general manager Kurt Angle that if he took his "son" to RAW than Bryan would want a superstar in return that superstar being of course Shelton Benjamin. When I was watching this Tuesday night and I saw exactly where it was going and honestly I could feel myself getting more and more excited and the marking out stage building. The moment was brilliant and the segment itself was done really well. Shelton's arrival on the night was an awesome surprise and very very well received. Now, I don't know how long his tag team work with Gable will last but I'm very excited and can totally see the pair going on to de-throne the current tag team champions, the Usos. Trust me when I say that is a tag team match I cannot wait to see! Just like with Bobby Roode and his arrival, Shelton returning to the WWE and joining the blue brand is exactly what Smackdown LIVE needed and will most certainly benefit from his presence massively.Weak and Strong Title pictures
So far everything has sounded very positive and we have touched on all the big moves the WWE are making to set Smackdown LIVE off in the right direction once again. However, I would be lying if I said that everything on the blue brand is perfect and in every area the company are working amazingly well on to improve and better. There are a couple of big issues Smackdown LIVE still face and they don't look to be changing any time soon. The main event/WWE Championship picture has been struggling for a long time. We have seen former champions such as Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles and even Bray Wyatt bring excitement to the title and storyline's we can get behind. However, it was during the end of Wyatt's reign that things started to go own hill and we haven't seen any improvements. the WWE Championship matches have been weak including the Wrestlemania match up between Wyatt and Orton and months later we appear to be in an even worse situation. I hated Orton's reign with every fiber in my body. He was a boring champion that brought very little to the title. I have enjoyed Randy's work in the past but this year I have been furthest from a fan you can get. We then have Jinder. Okay, hear me out. I'm a Jinder fan. I wasn't this time last year but his push is something I have totally been able to get behind. I've enjoyed watching his character development and been able to get behind Jinder as a product, a champion and of course as a character. His in ring work and booking however has left me with so many doubts and I've struggled to defend more so in recent weeks. The WWE have been lazy with the WWE championship, the picture and the champion and it's showing. There's a lack of competition, the storyline's are forced and weak and the champions are constantly being booked poorly. When you take a look at whats going on over in the US championship picture there is a big difference and when you compare what we are seeing with the WWE championship and the Universal title over on RAW there is an even bigger difference. What we saw at SummerSlam from both those major championships should have been a huge wake up call as it showed just how weak Smackdown LIVE is looking in that area. This is something the WWE really need to start changing. The booking needs to be better, Jinder needs to start picking up real momentum and scoring clean victories to prove doubters wrong. The roster has the stars they just need to be used!Superstars Smackdown LIVE are failing
That brings me onto my final point, the superstars Smackdown LIVE are failing. Now, I am going to write a full post on this listing the five major standout stars the blue brand is failing so keep an eye out for that which should be uploaded this time next week! In that post you can expect me to talk about stars from the tag team division. Okay, so we are seeing big improvements finally happen there but the tag tam divison has struggled throughout the past year over on Smackdown LIVE and so much talent is being failed week in and week out. You can also expect one big female star to feature and several top names we all believed would become WWE champion at some point in their career. Can you guess who they are?Smackdown LIVE is the brand I have always favored even during the original brand split. However, I cannot deny the fact that it's been a tough few months for the blue brand. Things are looking up and the right moves are being made to get Smackdown LIVE back to the top because lets be honest, by the end of last year we all could not get enough of Smackdown labeling it as the best show in the WWE right now, lets hope they can reclaim that status and get back on top! As always, any recent blog post will be linked bellow including my NXT Takeover Brooklyn and SummerSlam review from this week! Finally, you can let me know what you thought of all the shows presented by the WWE this week and if you believe Smackdown live is on its way back to the top by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.
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