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WWE Super ShowDown is over, with WWE Superstars now getting ready for WWE RAW. Despite how you might feel about WWE Live Show events that take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, you still need to at least watch them for several reasons. One reason is that we know the matches and participants beforehand, so you know that stars like Seth Rollins, Kofi Kingston, Finn Balor and others will deliver no matter where they perform.
For that reason alone, you should check out WWE Super ShowDown. Another reason to give the show a view is for the storyline advancements. Brock Lesnar did appear but is he still 'Mr. Beast in the Bank'? Also, although Baron Corbin lost to Rollins, he somehow earned another title shot at Stomping Grounds during the show. Had you missed SSD, then you wouldn't know that until Raw.
Several other matches were also announced for Stomping Grounds, including a Steel Cage match between Kingston and Dolph Ziggler and also two more rematches in Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre and Lacey Evans vs. Becky Lynch. WWE did some things right with their most recent trip to Saudi Arabia, so here are four such things they did well.
#4 Nailing both the use of pyro and some big entrances for Superstars
Prior to Super ShowDown, WWE routinely promoted the show as being on par with or bigger than WrestleMania. For an event that has defined WWE since the mid-1980s, that is a huge statement to make.
One way that it did resemble and nearly rival the Show of Shows was with the entrances of several superstars. Finn Balor's entrance as 'the Demon' was one of the coolest moments due to the use of extras and the pacing of his entrance.
It usually takes some time for him to get to the ring, but the use of the lights, sound effects and the presentation on the Titantron all contributed to one of the most memorable entrances by a wrestler over the last few years.
And as usual, both Triple H and the Undertaker had grandiose entrances. 'The Game' rode down to the ring on a tricked-out motor trike, similar to his entrance at WrestleMania 35. Taker's entrance lasted almost as long as his match with Goldberg but was paced well to add to his aura.
The use of pyro had been practically eliminated, but reserved for the bigger shows. Using it at SSD gave it a big-show feel like they had intended to. Some of the matches might have been disappointing, but the visual presentation was spot on.
#3 Kofi Kingston and Seth Rollins retain titles without getting successfully cashed in on
Every time Kofi Kingston and Seth Rollins have title matches, they won't be complete until 'the Beast' either shows up or does not appear. At SSD, both Kingston and Rollins retained their titles in hard-fought defences against Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin respectively with the threat of the Beast and his Money in the Bank briefcase hanging over them.
But once the bell rang to declare each man victorious, the WWE Universe's next thought is to not be happy unless the segment ends without Brock Lesnar showing up. Unfortunately for Rollins, 'the Beast' trotted down to the ring minutes after 'the Beastslayer' won his match but was also attacked by after it by Corbin.
Luckily for Rollins and most fans, Paul Heyman appeared to trip and drop the briefcase, briefly taking Lesnar's attention away from continuing to destruction on the Universal Champion. 'The Beastslayer' gathered his wits and actually ended up paying Lesnar back for the beating he received on last week's Raw.
After Kingston also successfully defended his title at the show, the WWE Universe was waiting for Lesnar to possibly show up. Having him declare that he is going after Rollins is merely a storyline device, and it might possibly be a misdirect.
Kingston is still a champion and Lesnar could simply change his mind as to whom he wishes to cash in on. SmackDown is moving to Fox in mere months, so WWE might swerve us by having Lesnar not only cash in on Kingston before or at SummerSlam but also do it successfully.
#2 Having Mansoor win 50 Man Battle Royal
Once the field of 50 (or 51) competitors in the battle royal at Super Showdown was whittled down, any of the final ten men could have conceivably won the match. Ricochet and Ali are among the better babyfaces in WWE whereas Samoa Joe and Cesaro are great, physical heels who can bully opponents with their technical ability.
Even though he's only had a handful of appearances on NXT TV, Mansoor has already proven to be someone to watch going forward in NXT. Despite losing to Dominik Dijakovic, he kicked out of devastating moves many times. He also defeated Riddick Moss during a recent episode of the yellow brand.
Some people think that having Mansoor win was merely a result of him being from Saudi Arabia. That might be true, but how did the crowd react to his win? They would have blown the roof off of the stadium had the event not been held in an outside stadium. Even though there wasn't a title shot attached to the winner, it was a win that gave him a huge rub that some of the other stars didn't necessarily need.
The main point is that while it would have been fine had Ricochet, Cesaro or Joe won the match, they are already established stars. Mansoor winning not only gave him a rub but it also shows that Superstars can come from anywhere.
#1 'The Demon' stays undefeated
Although Finn Balor has lost several matches as merely himself, when feuds are taken to the next level, he brings out 'the Demon'. It usually means the culmination of a feud is coming and that he is likely going to win.
It happened numerous times in NXT and twice recently when he defeated Baron Corbin at SummerSlam last year and Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania this year. The fact is, when 'the Demon' is slated to appear, it means that Balor is going to win.
Even though Andrade gave Balor the toughest match of his alter-ego's career, Balor still prevailed. WWE could either use this as a device to make Balor unstoppable at some point or if they wanted to, the could replace the Undertaker's WrestleMania streak with a streak for 'the Demon' at the Show of Shows.
They both have grandiose entrances and auras that other wrestlers just don't have. There's a reason why this persona only shows up a couple of times a year, and keeping that streak going at SSD was the right move. Andrade could still win the title at a later date, but the Demon's mystique needs to be kept.
