This weeks Smackdown LIVE Highlights
Jinder Mahal Challenges the Beast
If you read my Last week in Wrestling post on Monday you will know that one of the biggest stories to come out of last week came from the rumors surrounding the two thousand and seventeen Survivor Series pay per view. With the show set to take place next month this is the third pay per view of the year that sees the stars of RAW and Smackdown LIVE share a show with the two brands going head to head. Now, we do have a while to go before this pay per view airs but rumors have already kick started and there's a little focus now being made on the pay per view. The first piece of news to come about is in regards to the main event of this very show. Throughout the weekend all I could see on social media (particularly instagram) was headlines discussing the chances of Jinder Mahal vs Brock Lesnar taking place at Survivor Series and as I mentioned in my post on Monday I really have had mixed opinions on the news. Honestly, I'm not a fan. I like the idea of the WWE Champion taking on the Universal champion but with Jinder holding the WWE title it just doesn't feel like a match I can invest in. If the WWE had spent enough time building Mahal up, showcasing him to be a dominant force, a good champion and someone we can see as a legitimate challenger then things may be different but his title reign just hasn't gone that way at all. He hasn't competed in a single strong match we can all say yeah that was actually pretty damn good, his promo's have been weak especially during his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura and the WWE have failed to portray Jinder as a worthy, dominant, and effective WWE Champion; and so with that being said at this moment I can't get behind this Survivor Series match. I am hoping that Paul Heyman can somehow sell this and make this match seem like something I want to watch but right now I'm not very optimistic. I completely understand why the match has been booked and the idea behind it but right now I just don't see it being a success. During last nights episode of Smackdown LIVE Mahal did challenge Lesnar and we will see the reaction from Heyman and Lesnar this coming week on Monday night RAW.Sami Zayn Unleashes his Darker Side
It was at the Hell in a Cell pay per view last week that we saw Sami Zayn shockingly turn heel during the closing moments of the pay per views main event. Assisting his former best friend in picking up the victory over Shane McMahon the wrestling world was left in complete shock as the most natural and pure baby face in wrestling today turned heel in a huge twist. Of course, I didn't see this coming at all. Zayn has been struggling a lot of very past couple of years and that has been the real shock. His run in NXT highlighted him as one of the best wrestlers of this generation and what we saw from him down in developmental made us all believe that was to have a very successful WWE main roster career but things just have not worked out like that. Years down the line Zayn does not have a WWE title under his name and while he has managed to compete in a handful of fantastic matches he hasn't been given the exposer and the opportunities he deserves. So with that being said I can understand why the heel turn was done. It was the next best move and what he needed and while I had my doubts I can see already it really is working...well for now. Zayn is a natural baby face. He's a good guy and turning him heel does make you feel as though the WWE gave up on him a little. It was so easy for them to do what they did with him in NXT up on the main roster and they failed, not Sami, WWE, and turning him heel just seemed like an easy easy out. However, because of his journey and what we have seen from him over the years it means that his heel turn does make a lot of sense. He's full of built up frustration, his entire career he has been doing things right and by the book. He's played by the rules, been nice and sat back and waited for his opportunity but it hasn't come. No one has backed him, no one has given him that push and as he believes the fans haven't given him the support they did with the likes of Daniel Bryan, letting him down. Zayn made all this clear last night when he confronted Smackdown LIVE general manager Daniel Bryan. It was a heated, personal segment and deep down it had me wishing we could see Daniel Bryan vs Sami Zayn. Zayn did a fantastic job portraying just how frustrated he is and this new care free side of him. I am interested in seeing what the future holds for Sami now he is working this new side to his character. There are so many options and I can't wait to see where the WWE take Zayn. Hopefully, he finally gets the treatment he deserves.Someone help Baron Corbin
Now, let me just make it clear, no one in the world was happier to see Baron Corbin crowned the new United States Champion than me. You guys all know that I'm his biggest fan and practically in love with the guy but can we just take a moment to try understand what on earth went on last night. This time last week Corbin picked up a clean victory over AJ freaking Styles, this week his getting a count out loss to Sin Cara. At this point I'm pretty confident someone backstage is making it their life goal to take the piss out of Baron Corbin. It's just a joke. This early into his run I want to be seeing Corbin picking up momentum. Working on showing just how much of dominant unstoppable force he is not making him come across like a clueless idiot. This was the WWE's chance to really show just how brutal and barbaric Corbin can be and they failed. Watching this I was't even as frustrated as I should have been. Now, I know this type of booking is part of his character and sometimes it can work but last night this should not have been booked and it was a big mistake on the part of the WWE and the creative team. I'm hoping next week Corbin can pick up the victory over Sin Cara nice and clean in a match that makes him look ,like a total monster. As far as his next feud goes for the title I do not want Sin Cara to be the man that takes that role, it's just not good enough and won't work at all in making Corbin look like a good champion and making the championship mean something. I do have a post coming up talking about the potential names Corbin can feud with next but that does include the likes of Bobby Roode and Randy Orton but make sure to keep an eye out for that post soon!AJ Styles Sets his Sights on the WWE Championship
As we mentioned earlier, one of the biggest parts of last nights episode of Smackdown LIVE came from Jinder Mahal and his little segment mid way through the show. He of course challenged Brock Lesnar as we touched on earlier but one of the other big moments from this part of the show came when AJ Styles decided to make an appearance. As we saw, last week Styles lost his United States championship to Baron Corbin after a strong title run and we knew after he lost his rematch last Tuesday that this week we would be seeing a fresh start for the phenomenal one. Several fans had touched on the fact they wanted to see him back in the WWE Championship picture and honestly I totally supported that. The timing just feels right. No one seems to be able to dethrone Mahal and Styles is a perfect challenger. He's arguably the biggest name on the roster and one of the most popular stars in the WWE today. His feud with Mahal is something that excites me and I don't believe in a months time we will all be sitting back talking about this being one of the best rivalries in WWE history but I do believe that Styles has every chance of getting the best match out of Mahal and things could get really interesting. However, if you follow me on twitter you know the truth; you know that the real reason this excites me is because if Styles and Mahal are feuding it means that Styles is very likely to be crowned the new WWE Champion in a matter of months and if that happens we edge one step closer to Styles vs Nakamura at Wrestlemania next year. The feud between Jinder and AJ has now been kick started and I'm excited to see Styles edge closer to becoming champion once again and seeing Smackdown LIVE make its way back to the top because lets face it, when it comes to who should be champion right now, Styles is the number one pick.Final Thoughts
It was an interesting show this week. Not much happened but enough happened to make it a decent episode of Smackdown LIVE. I loved what we saw from Sami Zayn and seeing him team up with Kevin Owens to take on Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura was a really cool main event that did a great job in featuring four of the biggest stars on the roster. The night could have been made better with Orton turning heel which is what I thought was going to happen but it's okay... I can wait a little longer. I'm over the feud between Bobby Roode and Dolph Ziggler, I want to see Roode move onto something new and as for Ziggler I will say that I like the new little entrance where he doesn't have a theme. The action from the women's divison was a little lazy and weak in terms of booking but I like that we are seeing more from Charlotte VS Natalya and all the women have a role. As a whole it was a decent night that showed a little insight into what we can expect in the coming weeks or even months.I will of course be live tweeting throughout the pay per view this weekend and any recent blog posts will be linked bellow. Finally, you can let me know what you thought of last nights show and Mondays episode of RAW by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.
Recent Blog Posts:
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Last Week in Wrestling
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