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As seen on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, Daniel Bryan suspended James Ellsworth for 30 days and fined him $10,000 for his involvement in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder matches. He also added that if he violates the terms, Carmella will be stripped of her MITB briefcase.
Carmella and Ellsworth both took to Twitter and made the following remarks in regards to the suspension:
As noted over the weekend, Daniel Bryan teased on social media that he could possibly return to Ring of Honor and challenge Cody Rhodes for the ROH Title once his contract with WWE expires. Jim Ross took to his blog on JrsBarBq.com and made the following remarks regarding Bryan possibly returning to the ring again:
“Seems as if Daniel Bryan is having some fun trolling social media as he teases a return to the ring which I seriously doubt will or should ever happen. If his existing medical condition put DB in a higher risk category, then he needs to be the responsible husband and father and refrain from lacing up his boots again. Don’t get me wrong, if DB could safely resume his career I’d be all for it as he is one of the great talents in recent memory.”
Daniel Bryan took to Twitter to congratulate the new ROH Champion, Cody Rhodes. However, while doing so, Bryan also teased a possible future ROH return.
Here’s what Bryan said:
Bryan also tweeted this out immediately following the previous two tweets, indicating that it was indeed just a “tease”:
However, with recent rumours stating that Bryan has almost cleared all his tests and is good to wrestle by the end of next year, this tease holds a little relevance.
Would you like to see Bryan back in ROH? Give us your thoughts in the comments!
This week’s Smackdown got a few gears going shortly after Money in the Bank. Lana and Naomi look to be fighting again. Daniel Bryan returned, and then he stripped Carmella of the Money in the Bank briefcase and scheduled a rematch for next week. Good for the women.
Meanwhile, Jinder continues to reign as the WWE Champion (30 days and counting!), and the Hype Brothers Bros asked for the title shot that they rightfully earned. Daniel Bryan, for some reason, decided not to give them their title opportunity, but forced them to earn it again. This will most likely lead to shenanigans from the Usos to get Zack and Mojo out of the title picture.
Still, this week left us me with more questions than answers. Here are three of those questions that I feel need to be asked.
If I’m going to be honest, their last two matches have hardly managed to set the world on fire. There are certain duos in the ring who will always have excellent chemistry. Okada – Omega, Styles – Ambrose, Owens – Zayn, Punk – Cena, Orton – Christian, etc. Unfortunately, Orton – Mahal is not one of those pairings.
Mahal wrestles a rather pedestrian style, and Orton is a tricky guy to have chemistry with. A lot of talented wrestlers just don’t really click with Orton. It happens. So why are they continuing the feud between Orton and Mahal?
Let’s even look at it from a kayfabe perspective. Orton lost his rematch. Why should he get another match? He could feasibly earn it again in a match, but they didn’t do that. Randy just said he was gonna RKO a bunch of Indians to get revenge on Jinder.
Then there’s Baron Corbin waiting in the shadows with his Money in the Bank contract. While he is exactly the type of guy to cash in on Jinder, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll have a heel cash in on a heel. What I’m trying to say is that there is going to be a lot of change in the WWE title scene, but we don’t know what’s going to happen.
This is a question that many people have been asking since last month. Rusev demanded a title match at Money in the Bank, but then he was conveniently forgotten. Of course we all found out that Rusev was only medically cleared like last week, and then we all thought “cool. Maybe he’ll be at Money in the Bank.” Nope. Instead, we got Mike and Maria Kannelis, who, don’t get me wrong, are a cool and welcome addition to the Smackdown roster, but they’re not Rusev. So where on God’s green earth is Rusev?
They clearly had something before he got injured. He had beef with Mahal for some reason. I’m not entirely sure why because to be honest, there was a period of time where I stopped watching Raw completely and only watched Smackdown. But I know they had a squabble.
The story really writes itself. Rusev could’ve helped Jinder retain at Money in the Bank, and then turn on Jinder so he could get the WWE Championship. Or have Rusev return and attack Jinder, because they have unfinished business.
Rusev is one of the best performers on the roster today, so Smackdown should find a way to put him on the show.
I like the idea of the Open Challenge. It helps the image of a fighting champion who is looking for competition and looking to prove himself. It also showcases the skills of often overlooked superstars, and makes them look like they want the gold.
This week, Owens defended the US title against Chad Gable in a pretty good match. Gable returned from doing absolutely nothing the last few months, while Jason Jordan got exactly 10 seconds of screen time. While I like the idea of the Open Challenge, there’s still AJ Styles hanging around in the title picture.
Was this Open Challenge a one-time thing? I think it’s a potentially great idea to have Styles keep answering the challenge and Owens repeatedly denying him and defending it against someone else. Of course, that’s just me, and surely there’s some sort of flaw that I don’t see.
So how far will Smackdown take the Open Challenge? When will Styles and Owens face off again?
Ryback is joined on today’s show by his co-host Pat Buck.
Ryback recalls one night during his program against The Authority, when after RAW went off air he was being attacked by everyone in the ring. This was the one time during his WWE run when he thought an opponent was going to take off his weightlifting belt and strap him with it, and he was terrified. Jamie Noble told him after the fact that they considered it but then changed their minds.
Ryback mentions that WWE teased an angle with him versus Triple H for a couple weeks, but eventually they dropped it. Triple H came up and later told him that there was never a plan for them to work with each other, which Ryback appreciated. However, he jokes that he would have liked to work with Triple H to prove to him that he could actually wrestle.
Ryback says that WWE talents don’t get paid to film Table for 3, and they’d often be told that they had to shoot an episode before a live television taping when they’re tired and busy. For this reason, nobody ever really wants to do it, but they suck it up and try to have a good time with each other.
Buck says he’d love to see a Table for 3 featuring Ryback, Triple H and CM Punk. Ryback says he’d love to do an episode with Daniel Bryan and Vince McMahon, because Bryan would be able to keep things civil if things got out of hand between him and McMahon.
As previously noted, Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan welcomed their daughter Bridie this past Tuesday. Brie posted the following photo on their Instagram account:
“The greatest feeling in the world!!! Can’t even express the love I feel for her. From the moment I saw her I was in love. Thank you all for your love and support. Birdie Joe is her Daddy’s mini me!! #Imfinallyamommy #greatestlove #motherhood”
