Tag: SmackDown

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Why Brock Lesnar Must Become A Free Agent

Rumours have been circulating this week that Brock Lesnar will return to UFC. There is also an accompanying rumour that Lesnar will not resign his contract after Wrestlemania 34. Even if these are simply rumours WWE and Vince McMahon must be scared. Lesnar is sports entertainment’s biggest draw bar none. He is a mega star and a huge asset to the company. However, his career is winding down and there is still infinite value in Lesnar over the next year or two. His value will be used best though if he becomes a free agent and here’s why.

More Dream Matches

Samoa Joe vs Brock Lesnar was a legitimate dream match. WWE capitalised on this feud and booked it perfectly from Extreme Rules all the way to Great Balls of Fire. This feud proved Joe to be a superstar and also that Brock Lesnar dream feuds are a necessity. Dream matches with Brock Lesnar create superstars. They give wrestlers a career defining match as well fans exactly what they are desperate for.

That said, there are not that many dream feuds left for Lesnar on RAW. The only real one is Finn Balor which is as dream worthy as Samoa Joe was. Behind Balor is – at a stretch of the word dream – Bray Wyatt and even Braun Strowman. These feuds must happen in Lesnar’s time left in WWE without a doubt, particularly with Balor. On Smackdown Live however there are more. Three legitimate dream matches face Lesnar on Smackdown Live. Kevin Owens, AJ Styles and of course there is also Shinsuke Nakamura. On a smaller level there is also stars like Corbin and Zayn who would likely be excellent opponents for Lesnar.

Heyman can simply announce the Beast Incarnate will do what he wants and go where he wants. This opens the door for so many feuds and matches that WWE must capitalise on. Especially now that Lesnar is likely in the very end of his WWE career. With Lesnar fighting only a limited number of times a year, now is the time to do this. If not for the wrestlers opposite Lesnar, then for us the fans.

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WWE SmackDown Live Results – July 18 2017

Welcome to our SmackDown Live results, less than a week away from WWE Battleground!

WWE Champion Jinder Mahal brings the Punjabi Prison structure to SmackDown Live! It’s been a decade since we’ve had a Punjabi Prison match in WWE, so I’m curious to see if the structure itself will have changed at all. It’s unclear what Mahal will do with the Prison but Randy Orton is scheduled to return on tonight’s SmackDown!

The main event for tonight’s SmackDown Live gives us a preview to two of Battleground’s biggest matches as AJ Styles teams with Shinsuke Nakamura to face Kevin Owens and Baron Corbin. SmackDown Live has unfortunately been featuring quite a few tag matches recently, which always feels like lazy booking, but I expect these four guys to put on a heck of a match. Sparks should fly between the combatants as Owens faces Styles for the US Championship in less than a week, and Corbin also faces Nakamura at the PPV.

We get a big in-ring debut on tonight’s SmackDown Live, which sees Mike Kanellis take on Sami Zayn. For weeks Sami has unintentionally crashed the romance between Mike and Maria Kanellis, which led to Mike finally bursting last week and smashing a glass over Sami’s head. I figured this match would be kept until Battleground but we’re getting it tonight, which will probably end in a no contest or some form of screwy finish that leads to a Battleground rematch.

And finally, The Fashion Police will take one step closer to finding out who was behind their attacks, and John Cena is set for a sit-down interview ahead of his Flag Match with Rusev! Are you excited for the show? Let us know on the free Ringside News and Ringside Talk apps, and enjoy the show!

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Three Matches Announced for Tonight’s SmackDown Live

WWE has announced that Jinder Mahal would be facing Tye Dillinger in a non-title match on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live. In addition to that match, they have also announced Xavier Woods vs. Jey Usos and Baron Corbin vs. Nakamura.

Check back here at 8PM ET for our live play-by-play coverage of the event.

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WWE SmackDown Live Results – July 11 2017

Welcome to SmackDown Live for the 11th of July 2017!

The blue-brand got quite the shake-up this past week, when AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens at a live event in Madison Square Garden to become the United States Champion. Title changes rarely occur at live events and with the two set to square-off at Battleground, it seemed surprising that AJ would win the belt a few weeks prior. Rumour has it that KO might be injured and unable to defend his title at Battleground, which is why the change occured sooner. So it’s unclear if AJ will face a new opponent at the PPV, or if Owens will get a rematch. Owens is scheduled to wrestle tonight, so it’s hard to imagine his injury is severe.

John Cena returned to SmackDown Live last week with a heart of fire and is now set to duel with Rusev at Battleground in a Flag Match. This seems like it will be a one-off feud between the two patriots, as opposed to a rebirth of their former rivalry. The main event for tonight’s show is said to be a tag team match that puts Cena and AJ together against Rusev and Owens.

Elsewhere on SmackDown, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal will be in action against Tye Dillinger, who made a strong showing in last week’s Battle Royal. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Randy Orton appear tonight and possibly help Dillinger to a win to keep his momentum. Baron Corbin and Shinsuke Nakamura are also scheduled to face off tonight, ahead of a probable showdown between them at Battleground. Tonight’s show will also feature The New Day, Naomi, The Uso’s, and more.

Get talking on the Ringside News and Ringside Talk apps, which you can get for free on your app store! Enjoy the show!

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New Match Announced WWE Battleground

Shane McMahon announced on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live that the winner of a 5-Way Elimination Match at WWE Battleground will earn a shot at the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Here is the updated card:

WWE Title: Punjabi Prison match
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day vs. The Usos

#1 Contendership for the SmackDown Women’s Championship: Fatal 5-Way
Charlotte vs. Natalya vs. Tamina vs. Becky Lynch vs. Lana

Flag match
Rusev vs. John Cena

Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

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Possible Reason Why WWE Booked A Flag Match at WWE Battleground

As seen on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, WWE announced that John Cena would face Rusev in a flag match at the upcoming WWE Battleground event. Bryan Alvarez speculated on today’s installment of Wrestling Observer Live that the reason WWE decided to have a flag match between the two was in case they decide to have Rusev win.

“The Flag match is essentially the professional wrestling version of capture the flag. For the match two flags are placed on opposite turnbuckles, each representing a specific wrestler or team of wrestlers, and the object of the match is to retrieve the opponent’s flag and raise it while defending the flag in the wrestler’s corner.”

According to the rules (seen above), the match will conclude when a specific wrestler retrieves the flag of their opponent. This means Cena doesn’t have to actually be pinned to lose the match. Historically, WWE normally has gimmick matches as a blow-off match in a feud or as an “out” for a screwy finish.

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Luke Harper Calls Out WWE

Luke Harper took to his Twitter account to call out WWE for not acknowledging his battle royal elimination of Konnor on Twitter. WWE ended up deleting the tweet and Harper both ended up deleting their tweets. Here is the exchange:

WWE Twitter:
“#AndreTheGiant Memorial #BattleRoyal winner @MojoRawleyWWE is on a ROLL, eliminating @KonnorWWE & @LukeHarperWWE! #SDLive”

Luke Harper:
“Who eliminated Konnor? Thanks for watching @wwe. My name’s Luke Harper.”

Many can understand Harper’s frustrations as he rarely appears on Smackdown Live anymore.

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WWE SmackDown Live Results – July 4 2017

Welcome to the 4th of July edition of SmackDown Live, in which an American hero returns to WWE: John Cena!

The 16-time WWE World Champion makes his grand return to WWE for the first time since WrestleMania, the big difference now is that Cena is a free agent. Which is essentially an excuse for him to work both Raw and SmackDown, which I would have been mad about a few years ago, but now Cena’s career is winding down I have no complaints with him working programs with as many people as possible! Who does Cena jump into a feud with in the near future? It seems inevitable that he will work with Jinder Mahal but he’s tied-up with Orton until after Battleground, so that leaves the window open for big match John to have a quick win to give him some momentum and an excuse to challenge for the title. So maybe the likes of Dolph Ziggler will step-up for a month. We should know by the end of tonight!

Elsewhere on tonight’s show, we will get a huge 4th of July Battle Royale to determine the number one contender to Kevin Owens’ US Championship. It’s unclear who will partake in the match but we do know AJ Styles is a participant and the most likely to win since he’s been gunning for a rematch with Owens after losing at WWE Backlash. I would also expect Sami Zayn, Luke Harper and Baron Corbin to take part in the multi-man match, with Owens watching from ringside. Heck, maybe even Cena will throw his hat in the ring!

Naomi and Lana seem set to lock horns again, probably at Battleground, as Lana made the legitimate claim that her shoulder wasn’t on the mat. So I would expect Lana to come out tonight and make that claim to the entire WWE Universe, as well as her request for a third shot at the title. Meanwhile The New Day and The Uso’s will partake in a rap battle tonight, with famous rapper Wale set to host the contest.  The Uso’s have been fantastic since turning heel and winning the titles, particularly in all of their Talking Smack promo’s, so tonight’s segment should be entertaining if nothing else!

All that and more to come on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live! Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on our awesome Ringside Talk app, as well as the Ringside News app, where you can find all this wrasslin’ goodness on the go! Enjoy the show!