WWE SmackDown Live: 4 Things we learned from this week’s episode (December 25, 2018)

The final episode of SmackDown Live of 2018 ended the year on a high and left fans with a lot of expectations for 2019 and Royal Rumble.

Shinsuke Nakamura finally turned up once again to defend his United States Championship, however, he was not so lucky in his title defense against Rusev this time

Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe took their rivalry to a new height which will definitely bring something new and fresh for the fans in coming weeks.

Christmas celebrations were ruined by one of WWE’s top wrestlers and champions in a fashion that helped him build his character.

The tag teams of SmackDown met in a fast-paced clash which saw two forgotten teams end the match and come to relevance once again.

At the end of the night, there were a few things that we learned from the show. If you are wondering what they were, then check out the 4 things below.

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#4 Daniel Bryan is the Grinch who stole Christmas

WWE has been trying to quickly develop Daniel Bryan into a top heel, and completely change his character as a face before.

To continue building on this character, they took a nice different turn by letting him attack Mr. and Mrs. Clause. WWE has used such segments to push their current stars by using the stars of the past and this was no different.

While in the holiday spirits, R-Truth and Carmella made their way to the ring in Santa Clause attire to celebrate Christmas. Daniel Bryan soon interrupted the proceedings.

After an altercation, Bryan attacked the WWE veteran and left him in a heap after applying the LaBelle Lock.

Thus, the WWE allowed Bryan to ruin Christmas and become a Grinch standing tall and ensuring that his character as a heel is taken seriously before he gets into a new feud after AJ Styles.

#3 SmackDown can spot potential

Just a month ago, no one would have expected Mustafa Ali to take such a giant leap and become one of the main attractions of SmackDown Live.

Similarly, Almas has also come a long way in 2018 even though his potential hasn’t been completely utilized. With that said, there remains a lot for him going forward as there is no doubt that he will get in contention for championships very soon.

Unlike RAW, SmackDown has managed to give better chances to its wrestlers and spot the talent that deserves a push. Raw has made a mess of the talent at hand, and wrestlers such as Drew McIntyre, Finn Balor, Elias, and Bobby Lashley are just wasting their time even after proving themselves in the past and present.

SmackDown is giving wrestlers the chance to prove themselves and is presenting an interesting mix of matches which is keeping the product fresher, and also giving new talent some room to grow.

#2 Samoa Joe is a new type of heel

Remember the time when heels use to use dirty tactics to win against their opponents and get booed by fans? Well, it seems like Samoa Joe is a new and different type of heel.

Joe has gotten into some really good feuds in the second half of the year but has come out short each time. He did some extremely good work as a heel against AJ Styles and is continuing that against Jeff Hardy now.

This week, he lost to Hardy via count-out but still stood tall at the end of the night. He has lost most of his matches this year and yet the fans are accepting him as a major threat. That is exactly what Joe can do and is showing why he is one of the best heels in the company.

Even though winning matches will help his cause, it’s the tactics that he is using in his rivalries that are making him shine out even after loses.

#1 Foreign superstars can win everything except the World Cup

Finally, the moment fans had been waiting for closed out 2018. Rusev finally got his hands on a much needed and deserved championship, taking it off the hands of former champion Shinsuke Nakamura.

The match between the two men was very good, and once again they did a great job after their Crown Jewel bout.

It’s interesting to note that the United States Championship has changed hands from a Japanese superstar to a Bulgarian. Even though it's not something abnormal, one still can't help but think back to the time when not even one superstar billed from outside the United States took part in the WWE World Cup.

Even though the US Championship is not exclusively for US billed superstars, the WWE should focus on making the WWE World Cup a multinational tournament if they plan to continue it in the years to come.