Smackdown Live: 3 things WWE could have done (but didn't)

I can say with the utmost certainty that we just witnessed an episode of Smackdown Live. With Super ShowDown just a few days away, WWE did a few things here and there for the final build-up before they head to the Middle East. Whether or not they did enough is a different conversation entirely.

While there was a whole bunch of stuff that happened on Smackdown, there's also a whole bunch of stuff that didn't. Now bear in mind, we're not talking about things so obviously implausible (I can't believe Jon Moxley and CM Punk didn't invade Smackdown and then set a fan on fire while chanting "AEW"!), but things that absolutely could have happened. They just didn't, for whatever reason.

Here are a few interesting things that WWE could have done, but ultimately did not.

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#3 Book a United States Championship match for Super ShowDown

Samoa Joe is United States Champion once again

Let's get a few obvious things out of the way first. Yes, the United States Championship is technically a Raw title. Yes, there's still time to cook up a graphic and tweet that Joe will defend his title against a returning Gangrel. This is ultimately not a super big issue (then again, nothing on this list really is).

Since the Wild Card Rule is now in effect, there's no reason Joe couldn't have appeared on Smackdown, or for a Raw Superstar to challenge Joe. Heck, even a Smackdown guy could say "Hey Joe, you're a big meanie. I'm taking your title." Even just showing a backstage promo or something where No Way Jose challenges Joe would have been cool.

Again, there's still time to fix this. It's easy, and shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. If Joe doesn't do anything at Super ShowDown, it would be a bit of a shame.

#2 Have a competitive match for the 24/7 Championship

An actual match happened

So the Lumberjack match was a cool and fresh idea. I must applaud WWE and R-Truth for finding all these new and interesting ways to showcase the 24/7 Championship. The fact that the Lumberjacks wasted no time in trying to get to Elias after he won was a nice touch as well.

The thing is, there could have been an actual competitive match. There were around 5 moves in this match before it ended. I feel that if WWE let both Elias and R-Truth just do their thing for 7 minutes and have a halfway decent match, it would have been a lot cooler. You can keep everything else. Just let the two dudes wrestle.

I was definitely not watching during the Attitude Era (through reasons that are beyond my control), but I know for a fact there were actual matches for the Hardcore Championship. There was the triple threat with Kane, Raven and Big Show, and that one match where Goldust had a gold trash can.

The antics of the 24/7 Championship combined with actual in-ring competition would be a combination that's hard to beat.

#1 An actual build-up for the Intercontinental Championship match

The two men hit each other a bunch of times earlier

For reasons I'm sure almost nobody knows, WWE waited until literally 3 days before the match was supposed to happen before doing any sort of build-up. Andrade and Finn Balor finally came face to face before their match, and then they did a whole bunch of painful moves before calling it a night.

While everyone loves a good old-fashioned brawl, it feels like it's too little, too late. There are a whole bunch of other routes WWE could have gone to build up hype for this match. According to WWE's website, Andrade's facing the Demon, but if I had not checked, I would have just assumed normal, smiley, leather jacket wearing Balor was fighting at Saudi Arabia.

I'm not saying that the Demon should have appeared. But even just teasing it would have been cool. Imagine if Zelina Vega was yammering in the ring about how Andrade is the greatest thing since canned luncheon meats, and then the lights go out. It probably sounds lame, but it's different.

I guess since Undertaker was going to appear and WWE spent their entire "lights-off-then-on-again" budget on him, but they literally pay people to come up with ideas.