Two nights ago, at Elimination Chamber, a new, creepy, sadistic champion was crowned and things haven't been the same since then.
The first show since Elimination Chamber was eventful, much like any other Smackdown Live episode is, but the grand finale of the episode just left us with many unanswered questions.
How did Smackdown fare after an episode of Raw that had a lot of storylines progress on the road to Fastlane? Read our ‘Best and Worst’ countdown to find out!
#1 Best: The Wyatt Family is absolutely insane
Smackdown should have ended with the truly explosive main event, and the audience should have gone home smiling.
Instead, Orton's music hit as Bray Wyatt celebrated his first title defence against John Cena and AJ Styles. The man with voices in his head told Wyatt that he does not want to face the master at Wrestlemania 33.
Earlier, shortly before the match transpired, Luke Harper showed up out of the blue and attacked his former master. You never know what to expect with these absolutely deranged individuals.
Heading into Wrestlemania, neither of the three men can be described as a babyface or heel in the traditional WWE sense. They are just crazed cult members from the backwoods, and they do not behave like normal individuals do.
This changes the dynamic heading into Wrestlemania and actually gives us a story to sink our teeth into, for a change. WWE took a stale feud and actually made it more interesting than it once was. Kudos to Smackdown for actually giving us storyline driven feuds and narratives.
#1 Worst: 50-50 booking
We hear this quite often- ‘wins and losses don’t matter in WWE.’ Well, they should! The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Goldberg are more over than almost everyone on the current roster, because they won more often than they lost.
Mickie James returned to put over Becky Lynch. The very next night, there was a rematch in which James got her win back (albeit with devious tactics). Although we’d questioned the point of bringing back James only to have her lose multiple times on pay-per-view (and NXT TakeOvers), this is even worse in a way.
It makes a high-profile PPV match completely meaningless. Wake up, WWE!
#2 Best: Show stealing main event
It should be no surprise that if you put John Cena, AJ Styles and Bray Wyatt in the main event setting, they will steal the show. The match was exceptional by non-PPV standards. AJ Styles, as expected, carried the bulk of the match by bumping better than anyone in the business.
He also injected drama profoundly into the contest, by kicking out just in the very nick of time, leaving the Anaheim audience gasping for breath. Styles always brings out the best in the performers he shares the ring with, and both Cena and Wyatt brought their A-game here.
The question is, will these men continue to have good matches when Styles moves on to another program?
#2 Worst: Yet another American Alpha - Usos feud?
American Alpha defeated The Ascension without too much trouble this week, as we expected they would... leading to a huge issue in the Smackdown Tag Team division. The lack of credible heel championship title contenders for American Alpha! There is absolutely no one at all.
The Vaudevillains have been made to look like jobbers, The Ascension are a little more than jobbers and Breezango are somewhere in the middle. Which means that we get yet another American Alpha vs. The Usos feud, which won’t be bad in terms of wrestling, but we’ve just seem them wrestle too many times. No more!
#3 Best: Alexa is the perfect heel
AJ Styles gets cheered more than he gets booed. So do Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. Roman Reigns and John Cena are babyfaces who get booed by large sections of the WWE Universe. In such an environment, it is heartening to see a heel actually getting booed for a change.
The Miz does this quite masterfully. Looks like Alexa Bliss has picked up a few tips from him too. Not only did Bliss deliver her lines perfectly on the microphone, she mocked Naomi’s leg injury during the segment, and her facial expressions were on point too.
We’re certain it's only a matter of time before she’s champion again.
#3 Worst: James Ellsworth does not belong on TV
It was cute once. Now it no longer is, really. His acting is hokey, and if anything, he's preventing Carmella from actually being in the ring. It’s time to bid farewell, Ellsworth. You had your time to shine. Now please go!
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