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What's the story?
Before the cameras started rolling for this week's edition of WWE SmackDown from the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, there was a special dark match.
One where a popular babyface, not featured in the show, went over a popular heel, again not featured during this week's episode. The Perfect 10 'Tye Dillinger' easily defeated Mike Kanellis. Needless to say, the crowd was elated.
In case you didn't know...
Tye Dillinger is a crowd favourite, whose 'ten' chants can set any arena on fire. While he was a featured attraction in the US Title mix not very long ago, he hasn't been seen on television in a while. This is possibly because creative does not have any plans for him, currently.
The same can be said of Mike Kanellis, who's not been on TV for a longer period. At least, they got to lock up before SmackDown Live.
The heart of the matter
The match was just your usual squash, in which Tye Dillinger kickstarted the proceedings with a big win. It was possibly just intended to get the crowd pumped for the action that would follow.
Judging by the reaction online, fans were more disappointed to see Dillinger wrestle on the pre-show than they were to see him featured in a dark segment. They believe that he's a much bigger star, capable of doing great things and ascending to the top of SmackDown Live.
What's next?
The fact of the matter is that we don't know what's next for Tye Dillinger or indeed, Mike Kanellis. Dillinger is probably more valuable to the company at this moment than Kanellis is.
It remains to be seen if either man will be featured on SmackDown Live, post Clash of Champions.
Author's take
RAW has been doing a far better job of showcasing their talent on TV, than SmackDown Live. Maybe it's because of the extra hour, but SmackDown Live has just seemed like an inferior show recently.
I hope that both of these talents (yes, even Kanellis, who was great in TNA) get their due on WWE television.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
