With two weeks away from No Mercy, WWE will be bringing us the latest episode of SmackDown Live this Tuesday. Last week, Dean Ambrose got a surprise win over John Cena in the main event and his momentum will be one of the things to watch out this week. Ambrose has the huge opportunity this time around and he could make a big impact ahead of No Mercy.
There are some mid card shenanigans that need to be settled down as well this week. After the average show that Monday Night Raw produced, SmackDown once again has the opportunity to get the better of the red brand. Here is a look at the things that we could expect this week.
1- The Usos in for title hunt
The Usos defeated American Alpha last week to become the number one contenders for SmackDown’s tag team championship. With a baby face team like Heath Slater and Rhyno reigning, it was not surprising to see Usos get the shot. From this week onwards, WWE will be looking to build up the match for No Mercy and we will get a full blown idea of how the heel Usos are going to work out.
American Alpha, meanwhile, would need something to chew on for the time being as they are a hot tag team which should be kept engaged. The tag team division does provide some options for the creative team and it will all depend on the decision that they make.
2- Unanswered questions
SmackDown as a whole has been performing well ever since the WWE draft. This was evident at Backlash as well. However, the mid card of the brand is yet to settle down after the pay-per-view. They brought in Jack Swagger from Raw to give him a good spot and apart from a teased feud against Baron Corbin, it is yet to take off.
The Randy Orton – Bray Wyatt match is another feud that WWE needs to attend to. From what we saw, the feud is not over and WWE was probably waiting to see off the Orton – Lesnar match before they went full throttle.
3- Reign of Miz
Miz continued his reign as the Intercontinental champion last week at the expense of Dolph Ziggler. Almost all of the losses that Ziggler suffered during this storyline came via a screwy finish, so this feud might be far from over. Miz also has a subplot boiling with Daniel Bryan and a teaser of a brand switch from the champion.
The confusion surrounding Miz’s situation will probably be put to bed this week. There are rumors about a potential steel cage match between Ziggler and Miz at No Mercy for the Intercontinental championship and if this is indeed the plan, we could get a build up for this as well.
4- The Becky Bliss saga
Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss are set to square off at No Mercy for the Women’s championship and last week, they signed the contract for the match as well. It was a chaotic segment altogether with both of them getting some quality microphone time. WWE will be looking to follow up this week. Though Alexa did get some offense in, it was Becky that stood tall at the end last week so the tables could be turned this time.
Elsewhere, the Divas division also has another interesting feud going on between Nikki Bella and Carmella. Beating around the bush is what’s happening in this feud and a straight forward approach would be appreciated by the fans.
5- The title match
This match is the biggest draw of this week’s SmackDown. AJ Styles will be facing off against Dean Ambrose in a rematch of their Backlash encounter and the WWE championship will be on the line as well.
Ambrose, who got a huge win against John Cena this past week, does come in as a favorite. With the bold booking decisions that WWE has been making lately, it wouldn’t be a big eyebrow raiser if the championship changes hands at SmackDown.
But then again, this would be a blow for AJ Styles, who is here to stay for the long run as champion according to the rumors. A false finish is more likely as WWE would want both the superstars to keep their momentum.
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