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SmackDown Live was WWE's final stop on the road to Extreme Rules and once again WWE decided to push forward the feud between Shane McMahon and Roman Reigns. There are 10 matches on the card for this weekend's pay-per-view but there is no other feud that has gained the amount of attention that Shane McMahon's has on both Raw and SmackDown Live.
The Women's Division was once again dominated by a feud that brought Nikki Cross over to SmackDown Live so that she can defeat another SmackDown star whilst the rest of the Women's Division were relegated to backstage segments and promises of future matches.
Otis and Tucker are looking like the most likely stars to come out on top as Tag Team Champions at Extreme Rules since all of the momentum is with Heavy Machinery following Otis' win this week.
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It has been a stacked week of action, but there were a number of mistakes that the company made once again.
#5 Shelton Benjamin
Shelton Benjamin is obviously debuting a new gimmick since he appeared on Monday Night Raw in a backstage segment where he was asked about Extreme Rules and instead of responding he just rolled his eyes and searched around.
Benjamin went on to appear on SmackDown Live last night in another backstage segment where he was able to say "well" this time but his mic was really low. Benjamin's new gimmick hasn't come across well over the past two days and the star has struggled to gain any kind of momentum since his return to WWE back in 2016 so it doesn't come as much of a shock that the former Champion is now trying to push forward a new gimmick that isn't exactly gripping the WWE Universe.
#4 Kevin Owens vs Shane McMahon... Again?
Somehow, Kevin Owens has found himself back on SmackDown Live even though last year ago both he and Sami Zayn were fired from the brand by Shane McMahon after months of feuding with The Commissioner and then losing to him and Daniel Bryan at last year's WrestleMania.
SmackDown Live this week saw Shane McMahon banish Kevin Owens from the building and then take him out of his main event match with Dolph Ziggler, which lea to Owens making his way into the building to trash talk McMahon anyway.
Once again, McMahon got security to remove Owens from the building but he returned as part of the main event to deliver a stunner to The Best in the World. Is WWE really building to another feud between Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon?
#3 The Women's Division?
Nikki Cross and Bayley signed the contract for their upcoming match at Extreme Rules this weekend in the absence of Alexa Bliss, even though The Goddess will be part of the match on Sunday night. Cross then took on Carmella in a short match with Bayley at ringside where she was able to pick up the victory.
This was the only women's match on the card since WWE later showed Kairi Sane, Paige, Asuka and The IIconics backstage discussing when they would finally cash in on their Women's Tag Team Championship match.
Ember Moon, Mandy Rose, and Sonya Deville were also later spotted backstage where they set up a tag team match for next week on SmackDown Live where Moon needs to find herself a tag team partner.
A Raw superstar was once again given a match on SmackDown Live, whilst the other women were once again relegated to backstage segments.
#2 Finn Balor vs Shinsuke Nakamura should have been saved for Extreme Rules
Finn Balor took on Shinsuke Nakamura this week on SmackDown Live and was pinned by The Artist to set up a future Intercontinental Championship match between the two men. A match that should have taken place this weekend at Extreme Rules. It appears that WWE is instead going to build this feud until SummerSlam and then allow Nakamura to cash in on his Championship shot.
Balor has been misused over the past few weeks on SmackDown Live and it's sad that his comeback match was a loss to Nakamura. Both these men should be part of this weekend's pay-per-view but WWE obviously has bigger plans for both Balor and Nakamura.
Extreme Rules already has 10 matches so this could be another match that can't be added because there is no room.
#1 Too Much Shane McMahon
Shane McMahon was all over Monday Night Raw this week as he searched for the perfect partner for Roman Reigns and was once again the main focus of this week's SmackDown Live as he looked to reset the main event after Kevin Owens was ejected from the building.
McMahon was part of the opening, he was then part of a promo with Kevin Owens, part of a backstage segment and then all over the main event. It's too much and it only seems to be getting worse.
Interestingly, Kevin Owens noted how much TV time The Best in the World has been taking up and how frustrated other WWE stars are about it, which means that WWE will either continue to annoy their fanbase by pushing McMahon forward or take him out of the main event picture after Extreme Rules.
