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Clash of Champions is right around the corner and it seems that WWE is focusing on making this one of the highlights of the year. The company has decided to rehash the King of the Ring tournament so that the finals can take place at next month's pay-per-view and these matches will now become the focus of WWE TV in the build to the show on September 15th.
The other main SmackDown Live storyline at present follows the man who attacked Roman Reigns. The Big Dog was the victim of two separate attacks on both SmackDown Live and Monday Night Raw a few weeks ago, but the culprit has still not been found. Daniel Bryan and Rowan are trying to clear their name after Buddy Murphy put them in the frame, but this week definitely didn't go to plan.
WWE made a number of shocking mistakes this week on SmackDown Live, here are just a few that need to be addressed.
#5 Shane McMahon vs Kevin Owens is far from over
Shane McMahon faced Kevin Owens at SummerSlam with the stipulation that if KO lost then he would be forced to quit WWE, it was thought that following this match if Owens was able to win then McMahon's TV time would be scaled back, since that was the main reason why Owens wanted to face The Best In The World.
In recent weeks, the rivalry between Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens has continued instead and this week McMahon was able to ensure that Elias moved forward in the King of the Ring tournament.
Shane McMahon is taking TV time from all other athletes in WWE at present and continues to be part of around three segments a night without any need. Hopefully, Clash of Champions will see a change of pace for SmackDown Live ahead of their switch over to FOX.
#4 The Revival were forced to perform after a beatdown
WWE decided to pair together Randy Orton and The Revival last week on SmackDown Live and interestingly that union has continued this week with Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson helping The Viper to send a message to The New Day on Raw. This week on SmackDown Live, Kofi Kingston decided to exact some revenge when he beat Dawson and Wilder with a steel chair to open the show.
The duo was then forced to wrestle later in the show with taped ribs following the beatdown, but interestingly didn't really show any signs of injury. Heavy Machinery put up quite the fight, but despite Wilder and Dawson having an obvious reason why they could be beaten, it was The Revival who were able to pick up the win following a quick roll up on Tucker.
The Revival did issue a challenge to The New Day ahead of the match though, which means that their union with Randy Orton could be set to continue heading into next month's Clash of Champions event where they could be the deciding factor.
#3 The culprit wasn't actually revealed
It was a forgone conclusion that Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan weren't actually going to reveal who Roman Reigns' attacker was this week on SmackDown Live. That being said, it was hoped that the duo would have provided at least an interesting reasoning for dragging in a random person to take the blame for the failed attacks on the former World Champion.
Rowan and Bryan instead revealed that the man they believed was behind the attacks was a random person who looked like Rowan, which could be why Buddy Murphy thought that he saw Rowan when he apparently didn't.
This means that fans are no closer to finding out who attacked Roman Reigns and since there have been no attacks on the former Champion in weeks, it means that it's not likely that Reigns himself will get any closer to finding out who is trying to injure him either.
If this was just a storyline to keep The Big Dog off the SummerSlam card, then it appears to have worked, but how much longer is WWE going to stretch this out without revealing to the audience who was behind the original attacks.
#2 24/7 Championship
Elias is now the 24/7 Champion after he was able to defeat R-Truth on Monday Night Raw, but the issue with having a regular wrestler as the 24/7 Champion is that they actually have scheduled matches and Shane McMahon has turned off the rules for Elias for two weeks in a row on SmackDown Live now.
The 24/7 Championship has those rules for a reason, they are not there to be taken off and switched whenever the company decides. Jobbers are the ones who were looking to win the title when it was first introduced, so why does Elias even have the title when he's taking a spotlight off a number of other stars.
The Hardcore Championship was available to whoever wanted it at any time, but the 24/7 Championship has already seen the rules changed a number of times to help stars who are in matches as part of that show and can't fight off all of the men who want the title.
Elias isn't someone who should have the Championship, the title needs to be taken much more seriously like the Hardcore title once was, otherwise there's no point in keeping it on TV.
#1 No women's match
The Women's Revolution began after a 20-second women's match back in 2015 and over the past few years the women have been given more opportunities and more Championships than ever before, but somehow we are still back where we started.
This week on SmackDown Live there wasn't even a women's match, instead, the company opted to allow the women to be part of just one talking segment where Charlotte Flair challenged Bayley to a SmackDown Women's Championship match at Clash of Champions which she easily accepted.
The Women's Tag Team Champions were on SmackDown Live but just hosted A Moment Of Bliss to help the SmackDown Women's Championship match announcement ahead of Clash of Champions.
There are a number of women on SmackDown Live including Lana, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, and even Ember Moon, but none of these women were used this week on SmackDown Live since it appears that WWE struggled to include everything that they wanted as part of last night's show. Whilst the show was stacked, there were a few things that didn't deserve to fall through the cracks.
