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After a brilliant SummerSlam and a great Raw, SmackDown Live was decent, to say the least. The unpredictability we saw on Raw wasn't visible on the blue brand and the only intriguing storyline was the one involving Roman Reigns.
The show started with Kevin Owens addressing the WWE Universe over his win against Shane McMahon before the latter sanctioned a match between Samoa Joe and Owens, which Joe won due to interference from Elias as a guest referee. Buddy Murphy and Roman Reigns put on a great match which was simply the best on the show.
The Revival and Randy Orton faced the New Day and the former emerged victories. Also, Charlotte Flair got the better of Ember Moon in a great one on one match. The biggest talking point from the show was the announcement that Daniel Bryan made about him and Erik Rowan not being involved in the attack on Reigns and that he would reveal the name of the attacker next week.
In this slideshow, we are going to take a look at the 5 things WWE made very clear on this week's episode of SmackDown Live:
#5 Charlotte Flair will most likely be the next challenger to Bayley
After Ember Moon was defeated clean by Bayley on SummerSlam, the only believable challenger for the SmackDown Women's Championship is Charlotte Flair. The Queen defeating the Shenom on SmackDown Live could be a clear hint that Flair is going to challenge Bayley.
If this happens, we will be able to see the Four Horsewomen fighting for the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championship on both brands after Sasha Banks returned this week on Raw and beat the hell out of Becky Lynch. Charlotte vs Bayley is another women's match capable of being a PPV main event and it is fair to say, the WWE Universe is in for a treat.
#4 Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens will continue their feud
Much to the surprise of everyone, Shane McMahon will continue his lackluster feud with Kevin Owens even after the latter defeated him clean on SummerSlam. Shane has been getting too much screen time over the last couple of months and he should have had a hiatus after his SummerSlam loss, but as always, Vince McMahon sees it differently.
Owens has a lot of momentum behind him currently and another feud with Shane is not what he wants. Nevertheless, the WWE Universe will have to sit through those Best in the World claims again.
#3 Buddy Murphy could be set for a push
At last, we saw Buddy Murphy involved in a match which made sense. It is fair to say, Murphy impressed against the Big Dog as the match was clearly the best on the show. Also, Roman throughout the match made it look like Buddy could upset him and Murphy was clearly the better performer in the match.
Murphy has had a good amount of exposure in this Roman's attacker angle and he now has some momentum behind him. Murphy has taken clearly taken his chance to impress and could be set for a push.
#2 WWE doesn't know what to do with Shinsuke Nakamura
The biggest question most of the WWE Universe would be asking right now is that where is the Intercontinental Champion? Shinsuke Nakamura hasn't been on our TV screens for a long time and while he didn't defend his title on SummerSlam, he wasn't on the follow-up SmackDown Live as well.
This could either mean WWE doesn't know what to do with Shinsuke Nakamura and the Intercontinental Championship or they are planning on building a storyline. It is definitely the former that is happening here as there was no mention of the Intercontinental title on the show. Hope WWE come up with something for Nakamura as a talent like him shouldn't be kept waiting on the sidelines.
#1 A mid-card superstar might be revealed as Roman Reigns' attacker next week
The most intriguing storyline currently going on SmackDown Live is the one involving Roman Reigns and his mystery attacker. This week, Daniel Bryan called Buddy Murphy a liar and said that he had nothing to do with attacking the Big Dog. He also said that Reigns would get to know his attacker next week.
The most likely case scenario is that the attacker comes out to be Shinsuke Nakamura and Roman straightaway comes into the Intercontinental Championship picture. Another one that can be possible is that it is a mid-card superstar who after feuding with Roman could elevate himself into a main eventer. While the first one doesn't really make sense, it is possible that the second one will most likely be true. Nevertheless, we will get the answer to the mystery next week.
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