Listen, you cannot compete against a show that ends with The Undertaker, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar in a staredown for the very first time. The good thing about Smackdown Live though, is that they try hard!
This wasn’t the perfect show by any means, but there were enough moving components to ensure that we go into the Royal Rumble as excited WWE fans.
Live from the Huntington Center, in Toledo, Ohio; Smackdown Live was a show that, with its limited roster, built nicely to the Royal Rumble and the Elimination Chamber, which is only two weeks separated from the Royal Rumble.
It's time for our best and worst countdown for the blue brand!
#1 Worst: Genuine burial of AJ Styles
Okay, we admittedly hadn't noticed until AJ pointed it out on this week's show, but you seriously do not put your WWE Champion that far back in your Royal Rumble poster for sure.
Not only does this show that AJ is a placeholder champion who appears on the smaller shows, see how far back other Smackdown Live superstars have been positioned! Raw is the flagship brand and it will stay that way, at least if the poster has anything to do with it.
Even if Cena was working an angle, calling AJ Styles the biggest star not in the WWE before he joined the company- ‘some guy from Atlanta’ is simply not done. If that wasn’t enough, John Cena, the best-known wrestler in the world also buried independent wrestling with his promo.
What made it worse is that after Cena cut his promo, AJ did not get a single word in, making him look like a complete chump. This is why WWE still has to bring back stars from the past to boost their ratings, Treat your champion like a champion! Okay, rant over.
#1 Best: 4 storylines for women!
Remember when Women's Wrestling used to be a sideshow when you took your bathroom break? Some other fans perhaps used to be sold on the sexualization of the women, through bra and panty matches.
We’re glad to report that those days are long gone. At present, there are four storylines with the women of Smackdown Live (not counting Maryse and Renee Young) and we love it, Maggle!
Nikki and Nattie are tearing it up with their intense rivalry, Becky Lynch and Mickie James should have a fun feud and we’re curious to see where the Naomi-Alexa Bliss feud goes, heck, even the Carmella-James Ellsworth storyline is really quite entertaining.
#2 Worst: The Jobber Rumble/The Lumberjobbers
We still do not understand how the Royal Rumble really works! Some guys can just come out and enrol themselves into the Royal Rumble, while Mojo Rawley has to win a Battle Royal and Sami Zayn has to beat Seth Rollins?
We realise that this segment was just to get Mojo over as a singles star (and it reminded us that the Vaudevillains still exist), but this was really a pointless waste of time.
Why wouldn’t Apollo Crews enter himself for the Rumble by participating in this match? Why wouldn’t Kalisto? Did you have to be a tag team star to compete here? Weird!
#2 Best: The actual Lumberjack match
This match definitely wasn’t Omega vs Okada Part 2 for sure. However, with the Lumberjacks and the storytelling, the two men ensured that things were kept interesting. The all out brawl at the end was pretty much like a Rumble spot, and that was quite cool to watch before the event.
Dean Ambrose now has a lot of heels to work against as IC Champion. There's heel Ziggler, Baron Corbin, and even Luke Harper if the opportunity presented itself.
#3 Best: Wyatt Family implosion
Have two people who are competing against each other, ever come to the ring together walking down to the same theme music? We thought Randy Orton and Luke Harper had a very good match in every sense, except when JBL began fumbling his lines and saying things like ‘Randy Harper’.
Randy Orton is a very underrated worker who's surprisingly fluid and strikes silently, much like a real Viper does. The real story was what happened at the end of the match. Bray Wyatt turned on his longtime ally in Harper.
Does this mean Harper is going solo now? Will Orton use this opportunity to stab Bray Wyatt in the back?
#3 Worst: Fake accents
Why do two of the greatest WWE Superstars ever have to put on fake accents while cutting promos? Just be yourself... that's what made you into stars anyway.
In conclusion, we cannot wait for the Royal Rumble!
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