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Yes, I actually thought that SmackDown this week, delivered on a lot of fronts with fun matches and a really quick pace. However, as we have seen in the past, we all know that alone is not enough to secure a strong viewership.
The mainstream audience that watches RAW and SmackDown really needs compelling storylines and while I think that SmackDown is doing a decent job in that regard, there is a clear lack of star power with Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn missing right now. So, one can see why the trades that are happening are being made.
I would like to present the best and worst of SmackDown for your reading pleasure and I do hope that you will take the time to chime in with your valuable comments in the section below, valued reader.
#1 Best: AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura tear it up on SmackDown
The contest between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura had been built up in a really big way for WrestleMania and when the match finally happened, a lot of people were underwhelmed. I would have to say that the match on SmackDown was far better, in my opinion at least, and while it was obvious from the start that AJ Styles would win the match and likely, the whole tournament, it was good for what it was.
I would have loved to see a program between AJ Styles and Drew McIntyre, but I am guessing that at this point in time, SmackDown needs strong heels not named King Corbin a lot more than RAW does. Plus, it also opens up the question of which SmackDown Superstar could be traded to RAW and just maybe, someone like Shinsuke Nakamura could make a brand new start away from Cesaro and Sami Zayn.
#1 Worst: Issues with the SmackDown main event picture
As I said at the start of the article, the absence of Roman Reigns and the fact that The Fiend isn't on every show is hurting the SmackDown roster immensely. Sheamus and Jeff Hardy had a good match but it just felt like after almost 2 hours of SmackDown, this contest was a bit of an anticlimax. They need a big star and yes, I am glad that AJ Styles is back in the saddle again.
As happy as I am for Jeff Hardy who's just come back to WWE with a lot of momentum, I have to wonder if Sheamus' loss does not knock him down a peg or two. He is one man who could have been presented in such a manner that he would have been a realistic challenger for someone like Braun Strowman. Can a superstar who loses to Jeff Hardy be considered a threat for the Monster Among Men?
As for the match itself, I really had no major issue with it.
#2 Best: Bayley cheats to defeat Charlotte Flair without her SmackDown ally, Sasha Banks
I thought that the announcers did a commendable job on SmackDown of building Charlotte Flair as the daughter of the dirtiest player in the game and someone who is no stranger to cheating. And yet, it was Bayley's devious cheating ways that caused Charlotte Flair to lose a big match on SmackDown. Yes, I know that the internet is up in arms about Charlotte Flair being on NXT, SmackDown, and now even RAW as well, but look at the good that she is doing by putting stars like Bayley over in such a big way.
Now, as for whether Charlotte Flair deserves to be on RAW as well is a matter that must be dealt with in a RAW 'Best and Worst' article and not this one. I thought that speaking only for SmackDown, that WWE did a decent job with a Champion vs. Champion match, and when push came to shove, that this was a match that delivered and how!
Who would have known that Bayley would do her best work as a heel on SmackDown?
#2 Worst: The current SmackDown Tag Team picture
There is just something about the SmackDown Tag Team picture, which mind you could be awesome if need be, that just isn't doing it for me at the moment. Had the titles been taken from The New Day and put on just about any other team in the roster, we could have had a host of potential challengers stepping up. Right now, The Forgotten Sons seem to be the frontrunners in that regard for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships and I have to say that I am not very impressed.
I have no doubt that when the need so arises they can go in the ring. But at the same time, there is something that's very clean-cut about them that just takes away from their gimmick. Their gimmick too is confusing because they are supposed to be heels, despite the fact that they are heroes who have served in the armed forces.
I cannot see the SmackDown audience in 2020 gravitating towards the trio, despite their immense talent.
#3 Best/Worst: Mixing up the Universal Championship picture on SmackDown
No, I don't really know if I would like to see Braun Strowman take on both Miz and Morrison, hey hey, ho ho, in a handicap match for the Universal Championship. I would much rather see him go up against The Fiend, which is the feud that everyone seems to have been waiting for and the program that can take the SmackDown main event picture to the next level in a big way.
But if there's anyone who can make it work it's Miz and Morrison who were absolutely hilarious when they kicked off SmackDown this week. The match between The Miz and Braun Strowman may have been one-sided but I have a feeling that if this storyline is to continue, it will become one of the more interesting things on SmackDown.
That was SmackDown in a nutshell. Did you catch my interview with Otis right here on Sportskeeda, ladies, and gents?
Here is an excerpt from it and you can read the rest of it, right here.
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