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With almost one more week left on the road to Wrestlemania 35, we headed to Smackdown Live, as the blue brand has been heating up over the last few weeks, and this week's episode promised to be an exciting installment.
From finding out how Kofi Kingston was going to get to Wrestlemania to discovering Asuka's opponent for the show of shows, Smackdown Live promised much more eventful than Raw, but fans had no idea how intriguing the show would actually be.
While Smackdown Live is generally a much more level headed show than Monday Night Raw, it was surprising to see some of the decisions the creative team made on the show that was sort of groundbreaking in some shape or form, but not in a good way.
So let us go through some of the mistakes WWE made on Smackdown Live this week, as this is the first time in a long time where we saw the Smackdown Live creative team make some erroneous decisions.
#1 Disappointing Dream Match
Kurt Angle's retirement tour has been one of the most underutilized narratives on the road to Wrestlemania, as this was an aspect of WWE's booking which should have been much better than what it was.
As we have seen Angle face off with the likes of Apollo Crews, Chad Gable, Samoa Joe and on Smackdown Live this week he faced AJ Styles. After Joe and Angle put on a fairly good match last night on Raw, fans expected Styles and Angle to outdo that contest, but we were not ready for what happened next.
This match got underway in white hot fashion as Kurt Angle and Styles traded submission moves, but that was it, as Randy Orton came to the ring and delivered an RKO to AJ Styles which drew a disqualification.
Fans knew that Angle couldn't get it done in the ring anymore, as his days of being the most gifted competitor in the world were far behind him, but if there were one man that could get the best out of Angle at this stage of his career, it would be AJ Styles.
By WWE cutting this match short, it leaves a huge hole in the retirement tour of Kurt Angle, as this supposed to be a special moment for a man that helped pioneer Smackdown in his early days, and now we will never witness that moment again.
#2 A Predictable Road
After Vince McMahon threw another curveball at Kofi Kingston last week on Smackdown Live, fans were curious to know how Kofi was planning to get his title shot, and this week Vince McMahon was going to address that.
The New Day came out at the beginning of the show to relay a message to McMahon, that if the boss doesn't give Kofi his title shot they will quit the WWE. This prompted McMahon to come and address the trio; the boss laid out an ultimatum that if The New Day participate in a tag team gauntlet match and win, they will guarantee Kofi his WWE Title match at Wrestlemania.
This was an amazing match that saw The New Day overcome the odds to send Kofi to Wrestlemania, but something felt repetitive about this entire segment, and that was the fact that WWE had done this before. We have seen Kofi participate in several gauntlet matches, and now WWE gave us the same thing.
While nothing is wrong with that, there were so many routes WWE could have taken to get Kofi to his WWE Title match at Wrestlemania
By choosing the most predictable way to make the match happen, it sort of sucks some of the excitement out of the ride we have been on, but with one week left until Wrestlemania, we could be sure that WWE has one more twist under their sleeve for this programme. And let us hope that is more creative than the rehashed gauntlet match we saw on Smackdown Live this week.
#3 Charlotte Is Over Pushed
Charlotte Flair is the best athlete in the women's division, and while fans feel different, as Charlotte is handed everything, one just can't overlook her natural talent, but this week on Smackdown Live, WWE proved fans right by making a terrible decision.
Charlotte faced off against the Smackdown Live Women's Champion Asuka in a Wrestlemania re-match from last year, but the most shocking thing about this contest was the fact that it was for the title.
Charlotte and Asuka put on a wrestling clinic by attempting moves never seen before in their matches, which gave this contest a different feel, but all that goodness was ultimately ruined by the fact that Charlotte had won the match.
Charlotte is starting to become an over-pushed superstar, as being involved in the main event of Wrestlemania and being the Smackdown Live Women's Champion is WWE overbooking things once again, and it doesn't seem like there is a bigger picture being created from this current mess at the moment.
#4 Wasted Superstars
The Smackdown Live roster is one the best-assembled rosters in WWE right now, as the blue brand has a perfect mix of veterans and young stars which allows them to contest fresh matches every week, but if there is one thing the brand is guilty of it is not properly utilizing the superstars.
This week on Smackdown Live we saw WWE use almost the entire roster, but it was in a way that didn't really benefit them. From The Bar being wasted again in yet another gauntlet match to Shelton Benjamin being used as a punching bag in the segment involving Shane McMahon and the Miz, the creative team poorly used the roster this week.
But if there was one team that was terribly used on Smackdown this week, it definitely was Sanity, as the NXT faction has endured some really pathetic booking during their uneventful stay on Smackdown, and by being single-handedly taken down by the Miz is a reflection point for WWE. These superstars should have been used better, but on Smackdown Live this week they were not afforded this opportunity, and this a mistake.
#5 Asuka's Booking
Asuka was the greatest NXT Champion during her stay in the developmental brand, Triple H and his creative knew exactly what they wanted to do with the Japanese sensation. From defeating some of the most prominent stars in the NXT women's division to becoming an undefeated champion on the same level as Goldberg, Asuka was royalty down in NXT, but just like many others NXT standouts once Asuka arrived on the main roster, her career started to go in a downward spiral.
On Smackdown Live this week we yet again witnessed another terrible decision being made by WWE, as Charlotte beat Asuka for the Smackdown Live Women's Title in a thrilling match. This was a moment of madness rarely seen on Smackdown Live, because of many thought that when Asuka won the Smackdown Live Women's Title at the TLC event and beat Becky Lynch clean at the Royal Rumble that she was finally going to get the respect she deserves from the main roster creative team, but you were mistaken.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
