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This Sunday night, WWE Smackdown will present Fastlane. On paper, the event itself should feature matches which range from very average to excellent, with all four of the brand's titles being defended and the company likely setting up several matches for Wrestlemania 34.
In reality, though, the card is approaching with little fanfare. The booking on Smackdown Live in recent months has been mediocre at best, if you add the fact that the card is incredibly predictable, then it's understandable why many of us will be opting for a good night's sleep this Sunday.
The event is notable for one reason, however, and that is that it will be the last single branded PPV of the new draft era. Opinions are still divided on WWE's brand split 2.0, but one thing most fans can agree on is that there are too many PPVs to keep up with at the moment.
The WWE has taken note of fan's issues with this and announced last month that after Wrestlemania, the company will return to the old format of one event a month and that they will be dual branded.
This decision has been met with enthusiasm by a lot of the WWE universe, but it is worth remembering that not all single branded events have been a failure. So, to celebrate the end of single-branded PPVs in the WWE, let's take a look at the five best single branded events from the 'new era'.
#5 No Mercy 2016
At the beginning of the new brand split, Smackdown was miles superior to Raw, and No Mercy 2016 was a fine example of that trend.
The brand had better superstars and much superior story-telling, as was highlighted with the Dolph Ziggler Vs The Miz encounter, which stole the show at No Mercy 2016. The story heading into the match was simple: Ziggler would retire if he couldn't overcome the champion. It was simple but effective as, for once, fans really brought the idea of a superstar retiring and actually following through with it.
The end result was a thrilling encounter, which was one of the best of both men's career. Ziggler's win was a great moment and it was one of the few times where fans wanted to see a mid-card feud main event the show.
The rest of the card wasn't bad either, with AJ Styles notably defending his WWE title in an excellent triple threat match against John Cena and Dean Ambrose to open the show. The main event, which pitted Bray Wyatt against Randy Orton, was a warning sign of things to come, and definitely shouldn't have closed an otherwise excellent show, but, you can't win them all.
#4 Great Balls of Fire 2017
Despite its embarrassing name and hilarious advertising, the first, and now only, Great Balls of Fire event turned out to be one of the best surprises of 2017.
The show, which was a Raw branded event, took place last July and featured a blockbuster main event between Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe as its main event, in one of Brock Lesnar's few notably good matches from 2017.
Other matches on the card saw Roman Reigns square off against Braun Strowman in a ridiculous but highly enjoyable Ambulance match, Sasha Banks take on Alexa Bliss in a fun women's title match, and a thrilling iron-man match between The Hardys and The Bar.
While the show didn't necessarily feature any amazing matches, it was a consistent show from Raw and set a precedent of consistency from the brand that would see them rise above their Tuesday night counterparts as 2017 wore on.
#3 TLC 2016
TLC 2016 is yet another example of when Smackdown was the best show on WWE television. With the year drawing to a close, Smackdown was delivering the best shows on television, week in, week out and TLC 2016 saw them close out the year with a legitimate match of the year contender.
The main event match, which saw AJ Styles defend his WWE title against Dean Ambrose in a TLC match was, despite being lumbered with James Ellsworth, perhaps the finest WWE match of that calendar year. The two men had been having an excellent feud for a few months by this point, and this was their final encounter. Even though the result was obvious, the match was still thrilling to watch and featured plenty of innovative and exciting moments.
Dean would move to Raw after Wrestlemania and has not quite been able to get into the main event scene on Monday nights, but this was a fine example of his in-ring ability and a great testament to the excellent in-ring chemistry the two men shared.
The rest of the card was solid as well, with Alexa Bliss defeating Becky Lynch to launch her into the stratosphere, and Baron Corbin defeating Kalisto in what was arguably his finest singles PPV match ever. This was Smackdown firing on all cylinders and a nice reminder of how great the show was before the superstar shake-up.
#2 TLC 2017
A show that will always be best remembered for the events that took place a day before it, TLC was a fine example of WWE getting their cards right when the pressure was really on.
When several key members of the roster were struck down with an illness, most notably, Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns, the WWE had to think on their feet and replace them on the card, meaning that they needed to make sure they could compensate fans who had been hoping to see a Shield reunion on the show.
Surprisingly, the company managed to do just that, replacing Roman Reigns with the return to the ring of Kurt Angle and replacing Bray Wyatt, who was set to face Finn Balor while dressed as a woman, with AJ Styles.
The resulting matches were excellent, with AJ and Finn going on to prove why they are two of the best wrestlers in the world, and Kurt Angle taking part in a chaotic six-man main event tag match.
The rest of the card was something of a mixed bag, but those two matches alone were memorable enough for the event to make this list.
#1 Elimination Chamber 2017
Reflecting on how far Smackdown has fallen in the space of 12 months is really quite depressing. This time last year, Smackdown was firing on all cylinders and was considerably more entertaining than Raw.
The show featured a lot of the company's future stars, and Elimination Chamber 2017 brought together Smackdown's best and brightest and had them compete inside an Elimination Chamber to determine who would be the brand's champion heading into Wrestlemania 33.
The six men involved in the match were: AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Baron Corbin, The Miz, Dean Ambrose, and defending champion John Cena. The six men put on a thrilling encounter, which finished with AJ Styles and Bray Wyatt battling it out for the title. Bray would go on to win the match and then tarnish his reputation even further with his match against Randy Orton at Wrestlemania. For one night only, though, fans were given a glimpse of just how great Bray Wyatt could be.
The rest of the card was reasonable enough, with Randy Orton and Luke Harper putting on a solid bout, and American Alpha winning the tag team titles in an enjoyable tag-team turmoil match, but this night will always be remembered for that excellent main event. This was a swan song for that very brief, but wonderful period in Smackdown's history, and it was a great way to say goodbye.
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