5 Questions after this week's Smackdown Live (1 January 2019)

It's been two weeks since the McMahon intervention and although there have been some changes, let's be honest, it's more or less the same story still with not much happening. The immediate rematch clause has been taken away from the champion, so that's one thing new.

This has led wrestlers like Becky Lynch and Charlotte whining and shouting more outside the ring and doing less inside the ring. This has also led to Shinsuke Nakamura not having an immediate rematch against Rusev (or is he having it? some things are still up in the air it seems).

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The jury is still out on whether the changes brought in by the WWE are actually good or bad(or whether there are any changes at all) but for now, let's look at a few unanswered questions from this week's edition of SmackDown.

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#1 Who will be the next No.1 contender for the SmackDown Women's Championship?

It would be interesting to see which way the Authority leans

This week's edition of SmackDown Live once again saw Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Carmella (she was a fresh face in all this) demand an opportunity to go after Asuka for the SmackDown women's title. The new order set by the McMahon's has still not settled down and it's still not a surety which way the authority (can we even call them that now? Aren't the fans the new authority?) will lean.

On one side we have Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch in an on again - off again feud against Ronda Rousey which would ultimately culminate in the WrestleMania main event. On the other hand, we have Asuka who has, in a way stolen the championship from these two women at TLC and the authority is not giving either of the women a straight shot at the title.

In all of this, there is an added factor of Carmella who is actually supposed to be the 30th entrant at the Royal Rumble. It is very interesting to see which way the cards will fall and how will the stories unfold. Most importantly, who will be the No.1 contender for the SmackDown women's championship.

#2 What's next for The Miz and Shane?

What's going to happen between these two?

Miz and Shane McMahon, "The Greatest Tag Team in the World" made an appearance again on SmackDown with Miz showing Shane some of the potential outfits for their team. In all, it was a funny segment and you've got to admit that Miz is hilarious in what he's doing right now with Shane (is The Miz a face now? Can we call him that?).

But one thing that is a bit of a question mark right now is what's next for these two? Will they compete as a team? Will the team win the tag team championship? (because that would light up the division) or Will they end up feuding against one another and ultimately who will be the heel? Will it be The Miz or will it Shane? A lot of great possibilities are in store when it comes to these two.

#3 Who is the "Real" AJ Styles?

Intriguing things are happening as far as AJ Styles in involved

It's common knowledge that AJ Styles is negotiating his contract with WWE and trying to negotiate a lighter workload in his next stint (which kind of leaves him out of the championship picture). That's why it made sense when he lost the championship to Daniel Bryan.

But ever since then, he has been involved in a strange segment with Vince Mcmahon who wanted to see the "real" AJ Styles and ended up getting knocked out by AJ and then AJ went on to win the Fatal 5 matchup that determined the no.1 contender for the WWE championship against Daniel Bryan at the Royal Rumble.

What does that mean and where does the storyline go from here? Will AJ lose to Daniel for the third time? Or does that mean AJ has signed up a new contract already and WWE are going to provide him with a completely new gimmick? There are a lot of questions surrounding all this with much fewer answers.

#4 Where are the Tag Teams?

The Tag teams were again kept on the Backburner

You've got to ask this question because it's a bit strange that after talking a big game, the McMahons seem to have hardly addressed anything. The biggest issue that the tag team division faces is the lack of storylines in place.

Although there's actually some great talent in the tag team division they're not given the right amount of time in the sun to actually shine. TLC was a perfect pay per view to close the repeated bookings that the SmackDown Tag Team division was facing and bring in new blood.

It's tough to explain why SAnity doesn't get the push and why veterans like Gallows and Anderson are not allowed to do more. And it's not as if they're jostling for positions on a high performing card, the quality hasn't been top notch for a long time now and something new and might actually help the card to grow.

#5 Will Nakamura show up more often now?

Shinsuke Nakamura attacked Rusev during the US Championship Celebration

Rusev and Lana came out this week to celebrate Rusev's Day as well as Rusev's win over Shinsuke Nakamura to win the title. During the segment, Nakamura barged in and beat up Rusev and later proclaimed he's not done with the US championship.

Could it be a welcome change as it would bring Nakamura out of the woods and make him compete a bit more? Let's get one thing straight, Nakamura is a superstar and he put up one amazing match against Rusev the night he lost the US Championship and a more frequent presence from Nakamura could boost the quality of the shows and will be a welcome change for the fans.

It would be one of the better changes that the McMahons could ring in as making Nakamura Literally invisible from shows was probably not one of their better movies.