It’s fair to say that this hasn’t been the most significant week in WWE this year. It feels that we are plodding along to 2017 and the Royal Rumble, which is when the road to WrestleMania becomes clearer and things get a lot more interesting.
However, with recent long-term feuds seemingly coming to an end on SmackDown Live, what does WWE have in store for stars like AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose and The Miz for the next few weeks?
As for this week, the main event would see James Ellsworth receive his mandatory WWE World Title shot against AJ Styles. This match was initially delayed last week due to an injury to Styles, but would it take place this Tuesday?
#1 James ill-sworth
For the second week in a row, the scheduled main event of SmackDown Live was cancelled, and this week it was due to James Ellsworth being ‘ill’.
This was seemingly a work by WWE and not a genuine illness, but I can’t see why they would decide to do this. The James Ellsworth character is becoming stale, and I was looking forward to getting this match out of the way this week and having everyone move on to different things.
The longer it takes for this match to happen, the less interest I have in it. The sooner it’s all said and done, the better.
#2 AJ Styles on Miz TV
There was yet another edition of Miz TV on this Tuesday’s show and Miz’s guest this week was WWE World Champion, AJ Styles.
This was quite a fun segment with the Champions patting each other on the back, and seemingly getting along, that was until they disagreed as to which belt was the most prestigious on SmackDown Live, with both men obviously claiming that their own championship was the most illustrious.
This led to Miz challenging AJ, before being interrupted by Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper, who also claimed to be Styles’ next challenger.
#3 Fatal-4-way main event
Due to the chaos that occurred during Miz TV, it was decided that this week’s main event would see Ambrose, Miz, Ziggler and Luke Harper face each other in a fatal-4-way elimination match, with the winner becoming the new number one contender to the WWE World Title.
It was good to see Luke Harper placed in a match of this importance, but conspicuous by his absence was Baron Corbin, who was rumoured to be having a more significant role on SmackDown Live soon but did not appear at all on this week’s show.
Who would be the next challenger to AJ Styles’ championship and face him on the last SmackDown of 2016 on December 27th?
#4 Woeful Divas
Another week of SmackDown Live, another week of Carmella and Natalya bickering over who attacked Nikki Bella at Survivor Series.
This storyline was not furthered whatsoever on this week’s show. Instead, we got a match between Carmella and Natalya that just saw each woman call the other a liar.
It seems like the only people who care about finding out the individual responsible for Nikki’s attack are the three women involved. The fans don’t seem to have any interest in this angle, and would much rather have this story wrapped up.
#5 John Cena to return in 2 weeks
It was announced on this week’s SmackDown Live that John Cena would make his return in two weeks on the final show of the year. What will Cena have in store upon his return?
Could his road to WrestleMania begin on December 27th and will there possibly be a confrontation with his rumoured WrestleMania opponent, The Undertaker?
#6 Gabriel Iglesias
Following the appearance last week of apparent celebrity, Sophia Grace, we got another appearance from an alleged comedian by the name of Gabriel Iglesias.
I have no idea who this man is, maybe he’s a big deal in America. But I also have no idea why he was on this week’s show; he added nothing to any storyline, and his appearance was of no significance. Hopefully, this will not become a regular thing for SmackDown. Celebrity appearances tend to hinder the product rather than help it.
No more please WWE.
#7 Hype Bros to challenge The Wyatts
After winning an over-the-top-rope Battle Royal match to determine new Number One Contenders, the Hype Bros will now challenge Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton for their tag team championships. Zack Ryder won this match for his team, but it has been reported that he suffered a knee injury during the battle royal, which puts their upcoming title shot in doubt.
The severity of this injury remains unclear, but SmackDown Live will have a problem on their hands if they are forced to postpone yet another championship match.
#8 Becky gets her rematch
Despite Alexa Bliss’ reluctance to face Becky Lynch on SmackDown Live, Shane O’Mac would force the newly-crowned champion to defend her Women’s Title against Lynch on this week’s show. Bliss would go on to lose this match, yet retain her championship as she got deliberately counted out.
This feud seems far from over, and I guess it won’t be too long until Becky Lynch receives another title shot, possibly on the final SmackDown of the year on December 27th.
#9 Ambrose screwed again
Dean Ambrose must have been thrilled when he learnt that James Ellsworth was too sick to appear on this week’s SmackDown, as he has been a thorn in his side in recent weeks. However, during the fatal-4-way elimination main event match, Ambrose would once again be screwed out of the victory by a rival.
This week it was Miz who, after having already being eliminated, returned to ringside and distracted Ambrose which cost him the match.
Miz’s interference meant Ambrose was the final man eliminated and resulted in the eventual winner being…
#10 Ziggler earns a WWE Title shot
…Dolph Ziggler, who will face AJ Styles for the WWE World Championship on December 27th. There are many questions coming out of this main event. Despite an impressive performance, Luke Harper once again failed to get the victory, will there be repercussions from Bray Wyatt for this latest failure?
Will The Miz’s actions against Ambrose finally make him snap and become the true ‘lunatic’ that we all want to see? And finally, can Ziggler overcome AJ Styles to win the WWE World Championship?
Let us know what you think will happen over the next few weeks of SmackDown Live in the comments below.
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