The WWE Universal championship and the brilliance of Paul Heyman gave Monday Night Raw a good night this week. And as always, now it will be up to SmackDown to deliver. The blue brand has been getting the better of Raw for quite some time now, and with Backlash just on the horizon, SmackDown wouldn’t want their momentum to slip away.
They have all the ammunition they need to put together a great show this Tuesday night, and it would be a surprise if the show falls flat. Here are some of the major storyline angles that we could expect at this week’s SmackDown Live.
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1- Usos Heel turn?
Former WWE writer buries Judgment Day HERE
The Tag team tournament to determine the tag team champions of SmackDown will indeed be one of the major storylines to follow this week on SmackDown. The Usos won their first match of the tournament by defeating The Ascension and according to the tournament bracket; they are bound to face off against American Alpha this week.
Jason Jordan and Chad Gable, meanwhile, defeated Breezango to progress. These two teams are bound to go head to head soon and with the rumors of The Usos turning heel poking up throughout the Internet, the showdown between the Usos and American Alpha is going to be one worth tuning into.
2- The journey of Heath Slater
While the tag team tournament is a storyline that attracts eyeballs, the subplot of Heath Slater is even more interesting. Slater is still a free agent as things stand as of now, but he will get hold of a SmackDown contract if he manages to win the Tag team tournament. Last week, it was about finding a partner for Slater, and he did so in the form of Rhyno. And now, Slater’s journey is all set to begin.
Slater and Rhyno will have their first round match of the tournament this week and fans will be eager to see how this team works out. WWE Universe has always loved the underdog and Slater will be no different when he teams up with Rhyno to climb the steep hill.
3- The six-pack challenge
The Women’s division of SmackDown got a big boost thanks to the return of Nikki Bella. WWE wants her to be the face of the division and with the experience that she brings to the table; we cannot blame WWE as well.
Last week, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan introduced the new Women’s championship for the brand. The inaugural champion will be determined through a six pack challenge at Backlash, which needs build-up from WWE’s side.
They have already sown seeds for subplots and will have to carry forward the same this week around. At the same time, they need to give the limelight to lesser hyped women in the match.
4- The reaction to Miz
Miz was one of the major talking points that came up last week. He delivered a great promo against Daniel Bryan during the post-SmackDown show and this week around, Miz might get a response for this. Miz ended his feud with Apollo Crews convincingly at SummerSlam and will be looking for a new feud this time around. The promo against Bryan has given Miz some good heel momentum and whoever goes up against him will get a cheer.
Bryan will be addressing the Miz about what happened. As of the potential contenders for Miz are concerned, Dolph Ziggler might be a possible choice for WWE as the Showoff would also need something new after his loss to Ambrose.
5- AJ goes title bound
AJ Styles defeated Dolph Ziggler last week to become the new number one contender for the WWE championship. Before that, AJ got a strong win over John Cena at SummerSlam which cemented his spot in the main event scene. WWE will now have the responsibility of building up this feud from scratch.
Ambrose and Styles are two performers that could deliver a compelling storyline, and with both characters having a grey shade, it is bound to be a different journey altogether for the WWE fans. Styles not having the backup of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows is a big blow for him, but WWE knows how to bypass this and hopefully, they would do it in the best possible way.
