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From Kofi Kingston channelling his inner 'Stone Cold Steve Austin' to Kevin Owens alternating between a heel and a babyface on the same night, this week's edition of WWE SmackDown Live (2nd July 2019) featured a lot of contrasting moments.
As a full-fledged 2-hour show, there was nothing exceptional about last night's SmackDown Live. Reports indicate that Eric Bischoff will come on board only after the Extreme Rules pay-per-view. It goes without saying that the blue brand desperately needs to stir things up, and one can only hope that Eric Bischoff experiments and takes risks instead of playing it safe when he comes aboard as Executive Director.
Here are a few interesting observations from this week's edition of SmackDown Live:
#3 Kevin Owens' character alternated between portraying a heel and a babyface on the same night
One of the most entertaining bits from last night's show included Kevin Owens freaking out during what was supposed to be another by-the-numbers segment to kick-off SmackDown Live.
His frustrations resonated with several fans throughout the night's proceedings, and Owens finally emerged as somewhat of a babyface towards the end of the show.
Even though Kevin Owens might have broken off his short-lived alliance with Dolph Ziggler, it looks like the 'Prizefighter' will be aiming for the WWE Championship next.
This puts the WWE Title scenario in an awkward position, since Owens supposedly turned babyface last night, and Kofi Kingston, who is supposed to be the biggest babyface of the brand, is currently embroiled in a feud with Samoa Joe.
Kevin Owens walked on a thin line between a heel and a babyface, and perhaps he is supposed to be a tweener who portrays both roles according to the situation.
Whatever the case may be, it is quite apparent that the show needs to justify clear boundaries between each and every major superstar's role on SmackDown Live.
See WWE Smackdown Results, Highlights of event, & more on WWE Smackdown Results page.
#2 Why Bray Wyatt is most likely to answer Aleister Black's challenge at Extreme Rules
It was teased that Aleister Black's opponent would be revealed on SmackDown Live this week, but instead, Black appeared in another one of his mysterious (and somewhat incoherent) promos to everyone's disappointment.
However, we do know for a fact now that Aleister Black's challenger will eventually be revealed at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
Fans had various names in mind for Aleister Black's potential opponent, but the situation has now evolved into a silly and unconventional premise. The fact that someone would knock on Aleister Black's door only to run away when he would open it sounds like a prank, which is not something that a high-calibre superstar like Randy Orton (one of the rumoured names) would do.
On top of that, Black's promo during last night's episode had several subtleties that hinted towards Bray Wyatt being the one to challenge him at Extreme Rules.
One of those hints was that Aleister Black mentioned 'purgatory' in the middle of his segment, and for those unaware, there were several nods towards the same topic embedded in the form of Easter Eggs in Bray Wyatt's Firefly Fun House vignettes as well!
What do you think?
#1 The Kofi Kingston-Samoa Joe standoff was the highlight of the show
Kofi Kingston added another moment to his WWE Championship highlight reel as the Dreadlocked Dynamo engaged in a heated promo with Samoa Joe on Smackdown last night. Both of these superstars were obsessed with exposing each other's act, which worked wonderfully as Samoa Joe and Kofi Kingston knew exactly what the other was going to say.
But the best highlight of the night came when Samoa Joe extended to shake Kofi's hand just after insulting the latter's family. Kofi's intense expression turned into a cheeky smile as the WWE Champion flipped a hand gesture made famous by the legendary Stone Cold Steve Austin himself.
This added a much-needed toughness to Kofi Kingston's character, and to the delight of the WWE Universe, this also shows that Kofi can stand up for himself during any given situation.
Samoa Joe also put a lot of passion into this segment, and it will be interesting to see how this feud shapes up in the next few weeks.
By the way, what did you guys think of the comically bizarre segment featuring Shelton Benjamin last night?
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