Remember when Smackdown Live used to be the best wrestling show week in and week out? Well, those days seem like a distant memory since the Superstar Shakeup. Since then, the blue brand has very much felt like the B-Show on WWE programming.
Sure, there have been some shocks such as Jinder Mahal's push to Number 1 Contender for the WWE Championship and subsequent ascent to the top of the mountain against Randy Orton, but for the most part, the show has felt stale and dated.
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Now, more than ever, Smackdown Live needs some new storylines to help reinvigorate the smaller of the two weekly shows that WWE puts out. In order to achieve this reinvigoration, though, the creative team will need to give the fans exactly what they want.
I'm not saying listen to the smarks and push all the indie talent to the moon, but there has to be more to Tuesday nights than a push out of nowhere for Jinder Mahal in order to capture the Indian market. It's time to get some fresh storylines into the mix.
Here are 5 interesting storylines for Smackdown Live which can spice up the show:
#5 Asuka
Having recently surpassed Goldberg's winning streak record, Asuka is probably the best woman wrestler in the WWE today. Unfortunately, she's still down in NXT instead of up on the main roster. And, the Smackdown Live Women's Division is in dire need of someone like The Empress of Tomorrow.
With the current storylines having all but destroyed the reputation on the Smackdown Live Women's Division as well as the Smackdown Live Women's Championship, Asuka would be the perfect element to make the division matter again.
Put the belt on Charlotte, have Asuka come up to the main roster and take on The Queen. No offence to Naomi, but she just isn't on the same level as the Flair heiress or The Japanese superstar.
Having The Empress of Tomorrow and The Queen going head to head will definitely spice up Smackdown Live's Women's Division.
#4 The New Day vs The Usos
The New Day's absence from WWE programming has ensured that Smackdown Live's tag team division isn't worth watching. Sure, The Usos are great and the recent angle with Tyler Breeze and Fandango about The Fashion Police is fun, but they aren’t elevating the tag team division at all.
The New Day's return to TV can be the catalyst to make the tag team division a must-watch affair. There is no other tag team – save for The Hardy Boyz – that is as over as the trio of Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods.
With The Usos doing some really good work as heels, having them square off against The New Day with The Smackdown Live Tag Team Titles on the line can help restore some solid credibility to the tag team division.
#3 Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens – part 8,943,587
Well, okay that last part was an exaggeration but Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens have faced off against each other so many times now that they make Randy Orton vs John Cena look like a never before seen feud.
But, what makes their rivalry so special is that despite feuding so very often, they always put on a great show. Right from their days together on the indy circuit as El Generico and Kevin Steen, to their time in NXT and the main roster as Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, the two are superb every single time.
So, why should this time be any different? With the US Championship on the line, it'll not only make the matchup interesting, it will also ensure that the importance of the title shoots up into the stratosphere.
#2 AJ Styles vs Jinder Mahal
Jinder Mahal is doing some stellar work as an America-hating heel. The problem with him is that his in-ring abilities aren't exceptional; hence that extremely boring match against Randy Orton at Backlash. But, what if there was a way to make his matches interesting as well?
The answer to that is that there is indeed a way and that way is freely available to the Smackdown Live creative team in the form of AJ Styles. Freshly minted as a babyface, Styles would be the perfect opponent for The Maharaja.
The Phenomenal One has already proven that he can carry almost anyone to a great match and that's exactly what is needed to validate Jinder's run as WWE Champion and ensure that the biggest prize in sports entertainment actually feels like it's the biggest prize in sports entertainment.
#1 John Cena's return
It doesn't matter what angle you put him in or against whom he feuds. The return of John Cena is the number 1 requirement to help pick up business on Smackdown Live. Even today, he is one of the biggest stars in the world and just his presence would be a huge boost for the Tuesday night show.
Get Cena back, put him in a solid angle and watch the ratings go up week after week. A pretty simple formula for success. Baron Corbin vs. The Franchise Player sounds like a perfect feud for The Lone Wolf to attain main event status before he gets the WWE title.
Ex WWE writer blasts Liv Morgan HERE
