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It's always interesting to note what your initial thoughts are after a WWE show. Strangely enough, my first thought was how Jeff Hardy would be considered short for his era in wrestling. But he seemed to tower over Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles during SmackDown Live. It was a passing thought, but also a testament to how long he's lasted in the wrestling business.
I daresay that because the show was two hours long, I did not mind it all that much. But all said and done, this wasn't a very good episode of SmackDown Live. In my opinion, I'd say that very little of consequence actually happened during the said show.
There are so many loopholes in the programming and the booking that sometimes I wonder if WWE wants to get Elimination Chamber over with and fast forward to WrestleMania 35. This isn't to say that the show was all bad, but certainly, it could have been much better.
Here is my analysis of the episode that was!
#1 Best: The RKO
The moment this match was announced, my colleague Daniel Wood remarked on how we're going to see a very good RKO during the course of it. All of us assumed that Mustafa Ali would leap off the top rope into an RKO with Orton scoring the victory.
The RKO was so unexpected and so well done that I thought that it exceeded all my expectations. It's amazing how Orton and his fellow competitors keep the move fresh and exciting after we think that we've seen possibly every version of it.
Also, Mustafa Ali is seriously one of the most underrated performers in the entire roster right now. He's so gifted that it's scary.
One wonders if he will go on to hold gold in 2019.
#1 Worst: A missing US Champion
What's the point of putting the title around R-Truth's waist if he's not going to show up on TV the following week, I wonder. The US Championship was booked poorly when Rusev held the title. It was the same case when Nakamura held it too. And it seems like R-Truth's reign may not be any better, really.
To be fair, Shane McMahon and The Miz did not show up either, but at least an announcement was made about Miz TV next week. Asuka got a vignette but Truth got nothing. Also, the other two championships feel a lot more special than the United States Championship does currently.
The only way to elevate this title is to put it around Rey Mysterio. Or maybe even Andrade.
But then again, neither Superstar really had a match this week either.
#2 Best: Daniel Bryan's character work
Daniel Bryan was in his home state this week. This was the site where he rechristened himself the Planet's Champion from the People's Champion and actually cut a pretty good promo about everything that is wrong with the world. Bryan is committed to his character and the title belt feels right at home around his waist.
This is a spoiler, not a prediction. Daniel Bryan is the most likely to win the Elimination Chamber match considering how good his character work is and because the new WWE Championship has just been introduced on television. It would not make sense to reintroduce the old Championship so soon when the belt is such a hot topic of conversation.
I also like Erick Rowan standing by Bryan, almost like the Diesel to his Shawn Michaels. This is probably the most relevant he's felt in a while, including his entire run with the Bludgeon Brothers.
#2 Worst: Nakamura and Rusev teaming up
I don't get the point of this team at all. WWE created a heated rivalry between Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura not long ago, featuring Lana who got injured in the crossfire. And now, suddenly they're the best of friends again in a tag team with no heat.
In a brand where The New Day and SAnitY aren't even getting TV time anymore, do we need yet another throwaway tag team in the roster? I think that Shane McMahon and The Miz are entertaining, but when real tag teams exist, what's the point of having them on the show really? Rusev and Nakamura are an even more awkward tag team than them.
See, the only good thing to come out of this alliance is the fact that The Club got some TV time. But they lost the match so it's not like any good came out of it.
#3 Best: AJ Styles' return to action
Injury rumors were rife all through the week when AJ Styles missed Live Events. The consensus was that he would return by the time SmackDown Live came around but everyone was waiting with bated breath.
AJ Styles showed up during the melee at the end of the main event match to the delight of the crowd in attendance. While it is not clear whether he's okay to compete, he's at least okay to do a run-in and that's a relief in its own way I suppose.
AJ Styles is one of the key players on SmackDown Live and one just hopes that he can be 100% by the time that Elimination Chamber comes around. He needs to be a workhorse during the course of the contest.
I'm just glad to see that his condition isn't as bad as Seth Rollins' who had to miss RAW this week, owing to his unfortunate injury.
#3 Worst: The underwhelming women's tag team match
I sincerely hope that a team from RAW ends up winning the Women's Tag Team Championships at the Elimination Chamber. If this week was any indication, the women of SmackDown Live are not ready for the big time.
There was just no chemistry between any of the women during the course of the match at all. It seemed like a bunch of women put together to perform a match without any purpose.
The only storyline existed between Naomi and Mandy Rose, but ever since Rose has claimed that she wasn't really interested in Jimmy Uso, the story has not really been very heated at all. Add to the fact that Corey Graves was constantly yammering on about Mandy Rose, and this match was a chore to get through from start to finish.
Here's hoping that Sasha Banks and Bayley become Women's Tag Team Champions and that the titles remain on the red brand.
#4 Best/worst: Becky Lynch returns from her suspension already
So, I wasn't a fan of Becky Lynch returning from suspension so soon, to be quite honest. I wanted to let the suspension sink in and for the audience to crave her return. I just think that while the segment that played out was cool, she should have been suspended for much longer.
I also did not understand Triple H's insistence that Becky Lynch was scared to compete at WrestleMania 35. I think it's overall a very weak storyline to me. And of course, we've seen far too many Triple H vs. crowd favorite storylines already.
But this was still the best thing on the show by a long shot and for that, I will give WWE credit. The women's division is on fire right now and Becky Lynch is leading the charge for them.
Could we see a Becky Lynch vs. Triple H intergender match someday?
