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#3 Rusev and Nakamura makes things personal
The United States Championship is one of the most underrated titles in WWE, as gone are the days when John Cena brought the title back to relevance via his open challenges. As this once prestigious title has seen some truly terrible booking over the last few years, from being thrown around to multiple wrestlers to not even being on the match card, the US Title is in desperate need of a resurgence, and it seems like that is not far from actually happening.
After Rusev captured the US Title from Shinsuke Nakamura in a fantastic match on Smackdown Live a few weeks ago, fans knew that Rusev was going to bring credibility back to the title that made him a star, and they were right.
WWE went right into building Nakamura and Rusev's fued as these two men brawled last week during Rusev's celebration, and Lana was the unfortunate victim that was caught in the crossfire. And this week on Smackdown Live, Rusev came down to the ring not as a champion or a wrestler, but as a husband that felt terrible about what happened to his wife.
Nakamura soon gave Rusev the answers he was looking for, as he presented Rusev with evidence that it was, in fact, Rusev that caused Lana's accident and not him. This prompted Rusev to go backstage to find Nakamura but instead got destroyed by the former NXT Champion. This was a cleverly written segment that only further built on Rusev's humanity and showed how ruthless Nakamura could be.
#4 AJ Styles is relentless
AJ Styles has not been himself ever since Vince McMahon questioned his identity on Smackdown Live a few weeks ago, as it prompted AJ to lose his cool and punch the boss, and many feel that was a great decision on WWE's part to bring out the intensity in Styles once again.
Style is an incredible wrestler but he had gone soft over the last few years ever since he turned into a babyface, but it seems like he has abandoned his babyface persona and has gone full on aggressive. This new version of Styles conquered four elite superstars last week on Smackdown Live and this week he decided to put Daniel Bryan in his place by beating the living daylights out of the champ after his match with R Truth.
This rematch between the two superstars looks to be the best bout they could have, as Bryan's intensity is turned up and Styles is a dangerous man on the loose.
#5 Mustafa Ali is on a hot streak
Mustafa Ali literally came out of nowhere and stole the show for the past few weeks on Smackdown Live, and it is totally not surprising that Ali has put on some of the best matches the brand has seen in a few months, as he is a really talented wrestler that paid his dues to get to the point he is in.
And after beating Daniel Bryan clean in a tag team match and pinning Andrade "Cien" Almas last week on Smackdown Live, Ali was looking to continue his hot streak this week, but that wasn't the case.
Even though Ali and Rey Mysterio lost their tag team match to Samoa Joe and Almas, Ali gave an excellent performance in this match. Also, the man who was pinned in this match was not Ali but the legendary luchador himself Rey Mysterio. Ali saved his credibility, and it seems WWE believes in the man.
