Pros & Cons of Randy Orton Taking Time Off
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Welcome to SmackDown Live, only 48 hours removed from the Battleground PPV!
Jinder Mahal retained the WWE Championship against Randy Orton in the Punjabi Prison match. However, to nobody’s surprise, Orton wasn’t beaten one-on-one. In fact, it took FOUR guys for Mahal to retain, including himself, The Singh Brothers, and the return of The Great Khali. Look, I don’t like the fact that Mahal is being booked so weak, nor does the return of Khali excite me, but I do like the concept of Mahal having an impressive entourage. Mahal is a beatable Champion but he has two lackeys who will go through hell for him, and a giant to be the muscle. It’s a great sight and I’m excited to see where WWE go next with the Punjabi Posse.
Kevin Owens won the United States Championship from AJ Styles at WWE Battleground. The match itself was fine but the finish left almost everyone scratching their heads. There was a seemingly unnecessary ref bump, a series of submissions in which nobody tapped, and then a weak roll-up to finish an anti-climatic match. It definitely was a blemish on a match that was only starting to get good. However, it’s likely we’ll get the rubber match between the two at SummerSlam and so the feud will continue tonight. That being said, there are rumours that last-minute plan changes were made to allow AJ to leap into a feud with Jinder Mahal. Either way, we’ll find out soon!
The New Day won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship’s on Sunday night, following the best match on the entire card. The match was fantastic and it felt like the right time to put the titles on The New Day. It’s unclear if we’re going to get a third showdown between the two teams at SummerSlam, but seeing as SmackDown’s tag division is pretty lacking, it seems likely. I’m fine with another month of these two teams going at it but in the meantime WWE really has to build a credible contender to New Day. Speaking of other teams, The Fashion Police were once again attacked on Sunday night and we’re no closer to figuring out who perpetrated the attacks. Rumour has it that Luke Harper and Erick Rowan are behind it, and I really hope that’s the case because they could be credible contender’s to the New Day should they beat The Fashion Police.
Natalya won the Five-Way Elimination Match at WWE Battleground on Sunday night, which means she will face Naomi at SummerSlam for the Women’s Championship. These two could have a good match but I worry about the feud when it comes to the microphone. That being said, WWE would do well to include Carmella in the feud and she could easily make it more interesting in the promo department, as well as give Naomi another thing to worry about.
That’s the preview for tonight’s show, which is likely to feature the continued feuds between Corbin and Nakamura, as well as Sami Zayn and Mike Kanellis. Don’t forget to check out the Ringside News app and get talking on the Ringside Talk app! Enjoy the show!
As seen at Sunday’s WWE Battleground event, Nakamura won his match against Baron Corbin via disqualification when he was nailed in the crotch by Corbin. PWInsider reports that a rematch is set to take place between the two at tonight’s SmackDown Live Event from Richmond, Virginia.
Speaking of tonight’s tapings, Neville will face Ariya Daivari and Cedric Alexander & Rich Swann will team together to take on the team of Tony Nese & TJP.
Check back here at 8PM ET for our live play-by-play coverage of tonight’s event.
Battleground is nearly upon us. After Sunday, plans will be set into motion. Summerslam depends entirely on what happens at Battleground. Will Baron Corbin be the next to fall to Shinsuke Nakamura? Will the New Day finally become Tag Team Champions? Who will be Naomi’s opponent at Summerslam?
With that in mind, who needs to win this Sunday? Which victories would be ideal? Who will affect Summerslam in the best possible way? We’re going to find out.
First off, allow me to say this. This feud is so backwards and unnecessary that it’s almost funny. Do Smackdown really want two of their top stars to fight some anti-American foreigners? Apparently so.
Rusev is capable of so much more than just “I hate America, you fatties.” Cena can cut better promos when he’s not talking about “the flag represents all of us!” I don’t care that they’re fighting again. It’s just that the feud is straight out of the ’80s. All it needs are some prayers and vitamins and the Hulkster could do it. Not good.
I firmly believe that if anyone is to walk away from this victorious, it should be Rusev. Cena’s established; feeding everyone to someone for 10 years straight will do that. Cena can lose. Rusev’s coming back from an injury.
It’s not even a standard match; Cena doesn’t need to eat a pin. Have Rusev back over him with a truck or handcuff him to the ropes or something. Just let Rusev win. If Rusev loses, where does he go from there? Nowhere. A victory will give him a little nudge up the card.
At Battleground, AJ Styles and Kevin Owens will once again lock horns over the United States Championship. Owens lost the title at a live event in Madison Square Garden, and he hopes to reclaim it. Styles hopes to hold onto the championship for some time.
While many are clamoring for Styles to move back into the WWE title picture, I would like to see him have a meaningful run with the US title. He plans on hosting an Open Challenge, and it would be interesting to see less-utilized guys have a chance to wrestle with him. Styles can make anyone look good, so this Open Challenge should be a great idea.
As for Owens, I’m not quite sure where he would go from here, but he always makes his way back. He lost his first ever feud on the main roster. As Universal Champion, he was a complete joke. But he recovered. He always does. Him losing to Styles will not be the end of his career.
While many view the result of this match as a “rock and hard place” scenario, I don’t think it is. There is only one preferable outcome to the Punjabi Prison match. Orton needs to regain his championship.
The Jinder experiment has run its course. Mahal’s been cutting the same weaksauce promos for 8 weeks now. People have stopped caring about the WWE Championship. That’s not good.
While another Orton reign is not something anyone is looking forward to, it would be a lot better. For one, Orton can cut a promo without sounding like a teen currently going through puberty while smoking two packs a day. Mahal’s voice cracks more one promo than there are days in his title reign.
Lastly, Mahal wrestles a fairly pedestrian style that doesn’t exactly light the world on fire. If Orton were to regain the championship, he could actually have good matches. If he were to defend the WWE title against Nakamura, Corbin, or Owens at Summerslam, that could be great. It sounds better than Mahal v. Cena or something.
WWE has announced Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis for this Sunday’s WWE Battleground event. Here is the updated card for the show:
Punjabi Prison for the WWE Title
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal
WWE United States Title Match
Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles
SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
The New Day vs. The Usos
Flag Match
Rusev vs. John Cena
Fatal 5 Way Elimination Match to Crown a New #1 Contender
Charlotte Flair vs. Lana vs. Becky Lynch vs. Tamina Snuka vs. Natalya
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin
Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis
Kickoff
Aiden English vs. Tye Dillinger