24 hours on from one of the best episodes of WWE Raw since the 2016 brand split, SmackDown Live produced another forgettable show on 20 February 2018.
Much of the episode centred around the upcoming Fatal 5-Way match for the WWE Championship at Fastlane, with Kevin Owens defeating Dolph Ziggler (thanks to Sami Zayn) in the opening match and AJ Styles defeating Baron Corbin in the main event.
Elsewhere on the show, Jinder Mahal used the ‘Top 10 List’ against Bobby Roode once again as he tried to stir up trouble between the United States champion and Randy Orton, while The Riott Squad defeated Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Naomi.
The only other stories on this week’s episode revolved around the tag division, with The New Day controversially defeating Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin and The Bludgeon Brothers laying waste to another set of local talents.
In this article, we take a look at five of the biggest talking points from the episode.
#5 Fans thought the show was boring
If you attended a WWE live event and witnessed the matches that took place on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live, you’d probably feel like you got your money’s worth and you’d go home happy.
However, as a television show that naturally gets compared to Monday Night Raw on a weekly basis, Tuesday’s episode was massively underwhelming and didn’t produce a single memorable moment that fans will remember in the months, weeks or, let’s be honest, even days to come.
The reaction on social media was telling, as you can see right here, and it feels like there’s more scrutiny on SmackDown Live right now than ever before after yet another disappointing show.
#4 Two title matches set for Fastlane
It was announced this week that Ruby Riott will challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s title at Fastlane, while Randy Orton will take on Bobby Roode for the United States title.
The Riott Squad defeated Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Naomi on Tuesday’s episode, and Ruby later suggested in a backstage video that she will target Naomi next week before getting her title opportunity against “The Queen”.
As for the US title picture, Jinder Mahal continued to stir up trouble over the recent ‘Top 10 List’, leading to Roode hitting Orton with a Glorious DDT.
The Tag Team title picture is less certain, however, with The New Day’s #1 contender victory over Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable likely to be disputed on next week’s episode due to interference in this week's match from Kofi Kingston.
#3 Sami Zayn promises to lay down for Kevin Owens
The opening match of the night saw Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens, two members of the Fastlane Fatal-5-Way match for the WWE Championship, square off in a one-on-one match.
Ziggler produced one of his best performances in a long time and looked set to get the win after hitting Owens with a Zig Zag. However, KO was able to kick out before Sami Zayn, his dysfunctional best friend, sprinted down to ringside.
This led to Ziggler turning his back on Owens, who caught his opponent on the side of the head with a vicious superkick before covering him for the 1-2-3.
In a backstage segment later in the show, Zayn explained that he wants to be Owens’ “guardian angel” and promised to lay down in the middle of the ring to help him win the WWE title match at Fastlane.
#2 The dual-brand PPVs will help SmackDown Live
WWE announced last week that, from WrestleMania 34 onwards, there will only be one pay-per-view each month and all of them will be dual-brand shows, bringing an end to Raw and SmackDown Live-exclusive events.
Many fans have expressed concerns about the change, mostly because lesser-seen Superstars will take even more of a backseat when it comes to PPVs if dual-brand shows are largely taken up by title matches (which they almost certainly will be).
But, let’s be honest, SmackDown Live has felt like a glorified live event for a long time now, with extended build-ups to title matches proving to be a bad idea since the brand split.
The dual-brand changes won’t help mid-card talents but it’ll certainly provide more entertaining storylines if WWE only has four weeks to build towards PPVs as opposed to six or seven weeks.
#1 No Rusev or Shinsuke Nakamura on the show
As WrestleMania 34 gets closer and closer, every WWE fan wants their favourite Superstars to feature in high-profile storylines in February and March so they have a better chance of making the main match card at “The Show of Shows”.
One of the most popular performers in all of WWE right now is Rusev but, once again, he didn’t even appear on this week’s SmackDown Live and he was used in a dark match instead, teaming with Aiden English to face The Usos.
As for 2018 Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura, he hasn’t been involved in a single televised match in February and, like Rusev, he was left off Tuesday’s show entirely.
Nakamura will be fine (he’s already booked his WWE title match at ‘Mania, after all) but if WWE is to capitalise on the phenomenon that is ‘Rusev Day’, they’d better give him more television time between now and WrestleMania!
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