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The fall out from WWE Stomping Grounds and this week's Monday Night Raw dominated SmackDown Live as the company looked to push forward towards Extreme Rules. SmackDown wasn't going to set the world alight this week since there were a number of Superstars who were not part of the show because they are already touring Japan.
In the latest WWE NEWS, WWE tried to push many of the feuds forward as best as they could without the likes of Alexa Bliss, Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe and even Asuka but it was obvious that they only had a handful of Superstars to work with this week and the show itself won't be considered memorable.
Extreme Rules is merely three weeks away and whilst a number of matches have already been announced for the show, the build-up needs to improve if the company doesn't want a repeat of Stomping Grounds.
#5 WWE is becoming too reliant on two-out-of-three falls matches
Two out of Three falls matches have become part of WWE's new remodel where fans no longer miss wrestling action during the ad break. Instead, the company has become reliant on these matches. This week on SmackDown Live, there were two on the same show.
Elias battled The Miz at the demand of Shane McMahon in a match with this stipulation added, before the main event match between Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler in the main event also became a 2-out-of-3 falls match which saw Ziggler lose any future claim to the WWE Championship.
Whilst the company is taking huge steps forward by trying to help the WWE Universe to stop them missing wrestling action, they need to have more than just one match stipulation, otherwise, the product could be about to become really stale.
See WWE Smackdown Results, Highlights of event, & more on WWE Smackdown Results page
#4. Eight-man tag team match
There was an eight-man tag team match this week on both Raw and SmackDown, but on SmackDown Live Daniel Bryan and Rowan had already lost their match to The New Day when Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn attacked. This brought out Heavy Machinery and when SmackDown returned following the ad break there was an eight-man tag team match.
There was no need for this match to happen since The New Day and Heavy Machinery went on to win the match again and it was already made clear that The New Day pinned the Champions so they are now due a title match. Kevin Owens left Sami Zayn to be pinned by Heavy Machinery, which means that he could be heading back to Monday Night Raw alone, otherwise this match was just another filler.
#3 Women's match was too short
Ember Moon finally had a match on SmackDown Live after weeks of issues with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville backstage. The War Goddess was another victim of the numbers game before she was defeated by Deville, but it was a match that was too short. Last week the company failed to have a women's match at all on SmackDown Live and this week both women's matches were very short.
There are a number of women missing because they have gone to Japan to be part of the tour including The IIconics, Asuka and Kairi Sane which was why the Women's Tag Team Championships were not part of last night's show, but the matches that WWE did present could have been a lot longer if they didn't decide to stage two 2-out-of-3 falls matches on one episode.
#2 Alexa Bliss vs Bayley continues
There are so many women on the SmackDown Live roster that deserve a chance to challenge Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship since Alexa Bliss lost the match back at Stomping Grounds, but instead, the company has continued the inter-promotional feud between Bayley and Bliss.
This week Alexa Bliss wasn't on SmackDown Live since she was already in Japan so Nikki Cross faced Bayley and was able to pin the SmackDown Women's Champion to win Bliss a rematch at Extreme Rules. There are so many women who could be part of the match next month including Asuka, Carmella, Charlotte, Liv Morgan, Lana, Mickie James, Zelina Vega Mandy Rose, Kairi Sane, Ember Moon, and even Sonya Deville but once again WWE has overlooked much of their Women's Division in order to book Bliss vs Bayley in a rematch at Extreme Rules.
#1 No Roman Reigns or The Undertaker
Roman Reigns took advantage of the Wild Card Rule this week to appear in a handicap match on Monday Night Raw, which meant that he wasn't part of SmackDown Live. Instead, The Miz decided to pick a fight with Shane McMahon and ended up in a match with Elias that then allowed McMahon to become involved.
The Miz and Shane McMahon's feud has been going on since before WrestleMania, this would have been the perfect time for Reigns to come out and save Miz but he's another star who's in Japan which meant that WWE had to pull Miz back into this feud. Since no one saved The Miz from Elias and Shane McMahon, there was no build towards their Extreme Rules match and if there wasn't history between Miz and Shane then this would have been another pointless match.
