SmackDown’s Road to WrestleMania took some interesting turns last week. AJ Styles was crowned the new number one contender for the WWE title thanks to his win against Luke Harper, but a certain Randy Orton entered back into the WWE title scene to give a headache for Styles. Miz and John Cena delivered an entertaining segment to push forward their storyline when Dean Ambrose called out Baron Corbin.
There was some huge waves in the Women’s division as well and the fallout of all this would make the upcoming episode of SmackDown live a must-watch show. With Fastlane done, WWE will be focusing entirely on the road to WrestleMania and the shift in focus could be visible on SmackDown as well.
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In this list, we preview the show and the possible movements that WWE could make.
#5 Rebuilding Becky
After being on the losing side for a long time, Becky Lynch registered a strong win last week on SmackDown Live. With Naomi out of the picture, Becky has cemented her spot as the top baby face on the SmackDown Women’s division and WWE backed this fact by letting her get a strong win over Mickie James.
Becky got the win despite the interference from Alexa Bliss and it could mean that she is next in line to get a title shot. Natalya is another contender that could get a crack at Bliss and the picture regarding the title would be much clearer in this week’s SmackDown.
#4 The slow rise of Ziggler
While the attention of the WWE fans is resting on the main event level feuds that are happening on SmackDown, Dolph Ziggler is slowly making his rise in the mid card. The heel turn has been a refreshing move and his win against Apollo Crews last week in the chairs match helped to elevate him further.
Apart from the on-going feud that he is having with Crews and Kalisto, Ziggler does not have a clear cut direction and this makes him explosive. He could be heading anyway and the most possible scenario would be the Intercontinental championship.
Adding another heel to the situation could help Ambrose to bank more on his baby face power.
#3 Baron Corbin needs to answer
Baron Corbin’s graph after the Elimination Chamber has been a positive one. He has established himself as the number one contender for the Intercontinental championship after his victory over Dean Ambrose. Ambrose calling out Corbin last week on SmackDown showcased Corbin’s importance on the roster as well.
As both Corbin and Ambrose are badass superstars, violence is something that we could expect when they finally collided. As mentioned in the last slide, another name that WWE could include into the mix is Dolph Ziggler.
A three-way battle for the title will make matters more interesting now that Ziggler has a refreshing gimmick.
#2 The pair teams up
The segment involving Miz, Maryse, John Cena and Nikki Bella was the highlight of last week’s SmackDown live. The prospect of Miz and Cena going head to head didn’t sound exciting at the start, but the way in which Miz and Cena traded shots last week ensures an excellent outing for the fans. The intensity was high and the storyline being a personal one is going to make it stand out more.
Nikki and Cena will be teaming up for the first time to face James Ellsworth and Carmella this week on SmackDown and this will be the testing grounds for WWE. The company would be looking to test out the permutations and combinations for Cena-Bella pairing before they head forward to face Miz and Maryse in a big blow out match.
#1 The hunt for number one contender
Earlier in the article, we had looked at the twist of events that took place last week on SmackDown. Randy Orton broke his ties with Bray Wyatt in the most stylish way possible and this pushed Orton into the title scene alongside AJ Styles. Styles had earned a shot at Bray after defeating Luke Harper and now that Orton is back, AJ has yet another obstacle in front of him.
The Orton vs. AJ Styles match is something that could headline pay-per-views and the fans are going to get it free on SmackDown Live. It’s a dream match for many people and there will be huge implications for the match as well. Keep an eye out for Shane McMahon and Luke Harper, who are two superstars that could have a say on how the match would end.
