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From Kevin Owens being troubled by Shane McMahon in his first-round KOTR matchup to Roman Reigns' attacker being revealed as an Erick Rowan look-alike, this week's edition of WWE SmackDown Live (20th August 2019) featured a lot of contrasting moments.
The show itself had some interesting plot points that may or may not pay off in the near future, but honestly speaking, last night's events felt like a chore to watch. Maybe its the presentation of the show that's changed considerably since the blue brand's 2016 upsurge, or perhaps the execution itself added a nonchalant tone to the episode.
Here are a few interesting observations from this week's edition of SmackDown Live:
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#3 Has Kevin Owens' peak phase ended before it could even reach its true potential?
Kevin Owens' Stone Cold-like status was almost diminished to rubble when The Prizefighter begged Shane McMahon to remove the $100,000 fine stipulation for the better.
Unexpectedly, Shane McMahon took Kevin's request under consideration. But Owens eventually looked like a fool when McMahon turned against him during the main event of the night.
Kevin Owens' King of the Ring opportunity was shattered when Shane McMahon revealed himself to be the Special Guest Referee in the middle of the match itself.
A quick 3-count declared Elias as the winner of the contest, and at the end of the night, we arrived exactly where we started with this storyline in the first place.
This seems to be the case for most sub-plots involving Shane McMahon as the central antagonist since most of his feuds stretch out unnecessarily without any specific resolution in the end.
A single night could have ended Kevin Owens' run as the ultimate anti-hero, but then again, did last night's events do more harm than good?
See WWE Smackdown Results, Highlights of the event, & more on WWE Smackdown Results page.
#2 Elias' run as 24/7 champion has seen a lot of missed opportunities so far
Speaking of last night's main event, WWE missed the boat on a potential 24/7 title/King of the Ring tournament crossover.
To be fair, I enjoyed the backstage segment between Elias and Drake Maverick where the former proved that he was too smart for classic 24/7 title ambushes that have occurred in the past.
Not only was that particular segment entertaining, but we also realized that the 24/7 title bits have evolved past its comedic tropes at this point.
But then again, Shane McMahon's on-screen influence on one of the most entertaining superstars has reduced Elias' role to a generic heel.
There are dozens of ways through which Elias can entertain audiences as the current 24/7 titleholder, but sadly it is the show that needs to move past Shane McMahon's clique for that to happen.
What are your thoughts on Elias' run as the 24/7 champion so far?
#1 What the episode's cliffhanger really tells us about Roman Reigns' attacker
An Erick Rowan lookalike as a potential suspect in this week's episode of "Who Attacked Roman Reigns?" proves that this storyline keeps getting weirder as long as the secret hasn't been revealed to the fans.
Who is the lookalike in the first place? Why did he attack Roman Reigns?
Close viewers might have noticed a subtle hint being thrown across our way along with this cliffhanger: Maybe this is all part of Daniel Bryan's masterplan after all.
One thing that became quite apparent last night was the fact that Daniel Bryan seems to be on the edge to clear Rowan's name as a potential suspect, and at the same time, Buddy Murphy appears to be a more sympathetic figure who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It seems unlikely that WWE would not follow up on a seemingly hot storyline that ends with Roman Reigns' attacker being revealed as a random guy that looks like Erick Rowan.
There is more to this storyline than what meets the eye, and somewhere throughout the course of these events, Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan haven't told us a certain crucial detail that might be the key to all answers.
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