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Ladies and gentlemen, we are less than two weeks away from the showcase of the immortals, and you can just feel the excitement of WrestleMania season in the air. The card is starting to come together nicely and while there’s still some work to be done in terms of the ‘hard sell’ for the event, we’re confident in saying that WM34 is going to be a big one.
Still, there are a couple more shows left to go before WrestleMania week itself begins, and there are quite a few unanswered questions left lingering in the air. Following last week’s developments on the blue brand, the anticipation is growing as fans tune in to see what rabbit WWE are going to pull out of the hat in Pittsburgh tonight.
The road to New Orleans is almost over, but don’t be surprised if there are one or two more speed bumps along the way – we apologise profusely for that analogy.
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With all of that being said, here’s our preview for the March 27th edition of SmackDown Live.
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Nakamura vs. Benjamin
If it isn’t good enough that we’ll be getting Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, we’re also going to be treated to another sensational match tonight. The King of Strong Style will go one on one with Shelton Benjamin who, in many ways, has been wasted in his tag team with Chad Gable.
That’s not to say it hasn’t been enjoyable at times because it has, but we all know what he’s capable of as a singles performer – and we’re going to see some of that here. They’ve been building the story of Shinsuke being just one step above Styles for a few weeks now, and while it’s been a subtle build, we’re fascinated to see what will transpire next as these two gear up for a potential Match of the Year candidate at the Superdome.
Charlotte vs. Natalya
Yes, we’ve seen Charlotte Flair vs Natalya a million times, but when has repetition ever been something WWE have struggled with? The world is waiting to see what will happen when Flair steps in the ring with Asuka next weekend, but for now, we’ll have to settle for two of the greatest in-ring female performers in WWE history going at it one more time – what a shame, eh?
The dynamic between Charlotte and Asuka is intriguing to watch, and in many ways, it mirrors Nakamura and AJ, but they need to add an extra layer to this in order to make it feel a bit more interesting. One of the biggest aspects of this storyline is that, for once, the pressure is seemingly on the challenger as she puts her streak on the line against Charlotte’s title – and they need to zero in on that.
US Title Issue
The United States Championship match involves three competitors who, when on form, can put in great performances both on the mic and in the ring. Unfortunately, none of them seem particularly invested in this match, and as a result, it’s one of the primary contenders for a place on the pre-show. Still, they’re trying to make it feel more important, which is why they’ve scheduled an ‘interesting’ tag team match to take place in Pittsburgh.
Jinder Mahal will team up with Sunil Singh to face the team of Bobby Roode and Randy Orton, and you can just feel a handful of RKOs out of nowhere from a while away. We’d love to see these guys show some fire, but when you’ve got a belt that has lost its prestige and an extremely average babyface in the form of The Glorious One, it’s a tough thing to do.
The Tag Title Scene
While it once seemed obvious that The Usos will defend their SD Live Tag Team Championships against The Bludgeon Brothers at WrestleMania, there’s still a chance that we’ll see The New Day being added into the mix, which is probably why they’re scheduled to take on Rowan & Harper tonight. The three teams will surely work magic together in NOLA if given enough time, and tonight’s bout will be no different.
The big question that remains is will this make the pre-show or the main show, given that The Usos have been talking about how frustrated they’ve been at not being able to be a part of WrestleMania throughout their careers.
You’d think that WWE would put this match on first to kick things off in order to really get the crowd going, but it could still go either way at this stage.
The Shane Situation
Twenty-four hours ago this entry probably wouldn’t have been titled ‘The Shane Situation’, but alas, this is the scenario we find ourselves in. The news broke late last night that Shane McMahon has been struck with a case of diverticulitis, and as such, probably won’t make it to WrestleMania.
Because of that, we can only assume that tonight will involve Daniel Bryan attempting to recruit a partner to help him take on the team of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens next Sunday. Is there actually a chance that his return to the ring could be postponed? We don't think so.
Many names have been thrown out there including Dolph Ziggler, Samoa Joe and even Chris Jericho, but we’re still questioning how realistic those options are. There’s still a chance that this entire thing could be a work, but either way, you’ll have to tune into SmackDown Live tonight to find out.
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