'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
This week’s edition of SmackDown live was odd. It was an okay show, didn’t last too long or drag much, but it almost felt like nothing really happened. They’re building to the final pay-per-view of the year, and although they announced four matches (three of which were technically announced over the weekend), not much was advanced in terms of story.
The biggest piece of the pie, as it has been for the last few months, is the rivalry between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens and the SmackDown Live Commissioner, Shane McMahon. They started the show and ended the show, as has been the usual fare, and this week it was revealed at Clash of Champions, Owens, and Zayn will team up against Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura. Shane will be the referee, and if that’s not enough, the best friends turned bitter enemies turned best friends again have their careers on the line.
Last week, I predicted that the following 5 events would take place:
- Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan almost come to blows
This did not occur, but their relationship is indeed deteriorating. Bryan looked extremely upset at McMahon’s announcement that he was taking the careers of Owens and Zayn into his own hands. He thought that Shane had punished the men enough, but of course not. He’s a McMahon, and they can never get too much retribution, even when it becomes clear overkill. Bryan learned this first hand a number of years ago.
- Sarah Logan destroys a local talent in a singles match
As it turns out, it was Harper and Rowan who destroyed a pair of local talents in a tag team match. None of the Riott Squad team members wrestled, and while it did turn out that Sarah Logan was the only woman on the team to get physical, it was actually her on the receiving end of a nasty forearm from Tamina Snuka. I was also wrong about Ruby Riott getting a title shot, as she will be one of six lumberjacks for the Charlotte vs. Natalya rematch for the Women’s Championship.
- The Singh Brothers will be forced to grovel for forgiveness
We have actually been given no indication as to the status of the relationship between the brothers and the Maharajah. None of them were on the show on Tuesday night, as WWE instead aired a video package chronicling what AJ and Jinder have been doing since the beginning of the summer.
- The Fashion Files ends
Well… it didn’t *not* end. There was no sign of Breezango or The Ascension this week. Maybe the show is going to go out with a whimper and they will all move on to something else. While I have certainly not tired of the Fashion Files and I am sure many people agree with me and are still entertained, WWE may feel that it has run its course and are putting it out to pasture. I’m going to give myself half a point for this one.
- Kevin Owens helps Sami Zayn defeat Nakamura
Nakamura, Owens, and Zayn all shared the ring at the end of the night, but the above is not the scenario that played out. I would have given myself half a point had Zayn pinned Randy Orton, his opponent for the evening, with the help of Owens, but instead, it was Randy who got a quick schoolboy roll-up victory over Sami after Owens unsuccessfully interfered.
- Overall, I ended up going 0.5 out of 5. That’s ugly. Hopefully this week I do a little bit better. So, based on what happened this week, there are 5 things that I believe might happen next week on SmackDown Live, the final episode of the show before the pay-per-view on December 17th.
#5 The Lumberjacks Square Off In A 6-Woman Tag
I don’t think I’m really going out on a limb here with this prediction, but we shall see what happens. Based on the events of this week, clearly, the Riott Squad and the rest of the women want to get their hands on one another.
Daniel Bryan will allow the match to happen, hopefully, so the women can get some of the fighting out of their systems before they are set to be lumberjacks for the Women’s Title match next weekend. Naomi is listed as one of the lumberjacks, so it will be Logan, Morgan, and Riott vs. Tamina, Carmella, and Naomi, who will be returning from injury in just a few weeks time. They have to have one babyface in the match I didn’t realize that there are only two faces in the whole SmackDown women’s division. 6 heels and 2 faces. That’s pretty crazy. Oh, and there’s no winner in this match. It becomes a brawl somewhat quickly and it gets thrown out
#4 Four-Way Match Between 1 Member of Each Team in the Tag Title Match
The rules for the fatal four-way match for the SmackDown Live Tag Team Championship were briefly laid out by Corey Graves when it was announced. All four teams will have one legal man in at all times like a regular fatal four-way match often has, and teammates are only allowed to tag each other, not members of other teams. It’s a pretty rare formula, actually, and I don’t hate the idea.
With that in mind, the final episode of SmackDown Live before the PPV will see a member of each of these teams competing in a regular fatal four-way match. Heck, if I was in charge I would do two of them just for the sake of having a pair of good matches on the show, but I’m not in charge. In any event, it will be one of the Usos vs. Benjamin or Gable vs. Rusev or English vs. Big E, Kofi, or Xavier Woods. I’m going to guess that it’s going to be Jey vs. Gable vs. Rusev vs. Xavier. Extra point if I’m right on the four men. I still get a point if the match happens and it’s not those specific guys, though. I’m making the rules.
#3 Mojo vs. Ryder and Bludgeon Brothers vs. Ascension Announced for Clash PPV
I think that Mojo Rawley vs. Zack Ryder is pretty much a lock for the Clash of Champions card. SmackDown Live only has 4 titles, so they need to fill out the show with other stuff. They could do another women’s match but decided to put them all in the same match, because obviously, that makes a ton of sense when you have a sparing roster as it is.
Mojo vs. Ryder makes for 6 matches, and Harper & Rowan vs. The Ascension can be the 7th. One of them will end up getting the pre-show slot, leaving 6 matches on the main card, which I’m completely fine with. The Fatal Four-Way match for the Tag Titles should get a lot of time, and the Owens/Zayn vs. Nakamura/Orton match will likely get a lot as well. Expect that match to go on last, by the way. That’s right, they are going to put a tag team match with no champions in the main event slot of the Clash of Champions PPV event. They did it in 2011, so at least there’s some precedent there.
#2 Another Rematch Between Ziggler and Roode
It’s not the match I would put on the show next week, but for some reason, I get the feeling that they’re going to do it. Ziggler and Corbin are both heels, so they won’t be facing each other one-on-one, and a fourth man isn’t being added to the US Title match at Clash of Champions, so they can’t do a tag match. Instead, WWE will just go back to the well and have Roode and Ziggler face off one more time.
It won’t turn out to be a bad match even though the two seem to have decent-at-best chemistry with each other in the ring, but just like on this week’s show, the match will end without a winner because Baron Corbin will be at ringside for commentary, and he will get involved and lay out both guys just like Ziggler did this week.
I’ll give myself an extra half point if the match happens and it ends just like that, and I’ll give myself an extra full point if Corbin interferes, the match gets thrown out, but Bobby Roode ends up being the one who stands tall.
#1 Daniel Bryan Tries To Convince Shane McMahon To Let Him Be The Referee
It is continuing to be very contentious between the SmackDown Live Commissioner and General Manager, as Daniel Bryan clearly does not agree with the vengeance that Shane McMahon is trying to bestow upon Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. After Shane McMahon put the careers of Owens and Zayn directly in his hands this week by announcing himself as the special guest referee for the match between Owens and Zayn and the team of Shinsuke Nakamura and Randy Orton, he went one step further by stating that Owens and Zayn would be fired from all of WWE, not just SD Live, if they lost. Bryan was not happy about that.
Next week will see Bryan try to reason with Shane ‘O Mac, but his pleas will fall on deaf ears. He’ll try to compromise with Shane by agreeing that Owens and Zayn’s careers can still be on the line (Shane will refuse to budge on that one) but that Bryan will take the refereeing duties instead of McMahon. I don’t expect that it will actually happen, but I do expect that Bryan gets involved in the match next weekend in a way that inadvertently helps Owens and Zayn win the match and keep their jobs. Maybe it won’t be an accident at all, but we’ll have to wait and see.
If Bryan does end up convincing Shane to allow him to be the ref, it will say a lot about how close Daniel Bryan actually is to being cleared to compete. There’s no way they will let him be an active part of a match unless they are leaning toward the idea that he will be allowed to wrestle some time in 2018.
Send us news tips at [email protected]
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
