One major conclusion most fans reached after Roadblock was that SmackDown is better Monday Night Raw. Though the WWE fan base has been flirting with the idea for a long time now, with Roadblock being compared to a regular episode of Raw, the whole situation seems to be in SmackDown’s favour heading into Royal Rumble.
This Tuesday, night, SmackDown will have to make their move, and they have the ammunition as well. With the new contenders that were crowned last week, this week’s SmackDown has a lot of answers to give and here is a look at what all WWE could come up with.
#5 The main event
WWE announced that Dean Ambrose would face Luke Harper on SmackDown this week. Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton will be ringside for the match, and it will be the main event as well. Ambrose got out of the WWE championship picture last week thanks to Ziggler’s win and the match with Harper could indicate that his next feud could come with the Wyatt Family.
The Wyatts are the reigning Tag team Champions, but at the same time, they have the free bird rule in place, meaning that one member would always be free. So WWE could pull off certain permutations with this feud.
A Dean Ambrose – Randy Orton feud, in particular, would be interesting. And a feud between the Wyatts and Ambrose also opens the door for a Shield reunion on SmackDown live.
#4 Booking Miz
Miz is hands down one of the strongest champions in WWE at the moment. This has been said over and over again and the loss that he suffered at the SmackDown Main Event last week, means that he will be eyeing a comeback, in all likelihood.
With the likes of Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler invested elsewhere; WWE will have to come up with a new challenge for Miz. SmackDown’s shallow roster may be a problem while trying to do so, but there are some interesting choices that WWE could come up with.
Kane would be a good choice to fill in for the time being and so will Apollo Crews or someone from the tag team division.
#3 Faith of Hype Bros
One of the biggest highlights of last week was The Hype Bros becoming the new number one contenders for the Tag team championship. Zack Ryder won the Battle Royal to get this opportunity, and the fans were excited to see the prospect of the team going up against Wyatt Family.
Unfortunately, Ryder suffered an injury and is expected to be out for around six months.
Ryder's injury has given rise to many questions with the most important one being, what WWE would do with Mojo Rawley? Will the promotion have to find him a new partner and give him the shot or go on to find new contenders altogether? SmackDown will have the answers.
#2 New contender is here
The fans who enjoy some good old wrestling probably marked out last week when they saw Dolph Ziggler become the number one contender. Ziggler has been in this situation on numerous occasions, and he is probably not going to win the title as well. But the idea of seeing Ziggler vs. AJ Styles is something that makes the feud worth it.
Ziggler and AJ will kick start their storyline this week on SmackDown live and the way in which WWE threads the storyline will be a talking point on the show. Hopefully, WWE gives Ziggler a strong booking so that he comes across as a credible challenge for Styles.
#1 Ellsworth still has a shot
While WWE crowned a new Number One Contender for the WWE Championship last week; what stands out is the fact that James Ellsworth still has a shot with him. The match was supposed to happen after TLC, but AJ’s injury and later the sickness of Ellsworth came in the way.
We might have Ziggler in the title picture, but this does not mean that the presence of Ellsworth can be avoided. Ellsworth could play a bigger role than we initially assumed and WWE could even give him the title shot this week on SmackDown to get people talking.
Send us news tips at [email protected].
