The WWE style of storytelling has a lot in common with most any other form of storytelling -- there's a setup, a plot, filler material in between and a conclusion. That's the baseline equation, to be sure, with an added twist here, a hair-raising swerve there and a few chapters that can often seem out of order or hastily put together.
No matter the path it takes to get there, the WWE is trying to sell a cogent narrative that gets you from point A to point B in as exciting a way as possible.
With just more than two weeks to go before the Royal Rumble, we find ourselves settling into the "a lot of filler material in between" portion of the program -- specifically when it comes to Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, AJ Styles and the two authority figures of SmackDown Live, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan.
A week ago, we wrote about the mass confusion that's been fostered because these sizeable personalities kept making impetuous, eye-raising decisions. On Tuesday night, the over-the-top proclamations finally mellowed out -- likely because there weren't many more to make -- and the bulk of this edition of SmackDown was dedicated to simply carrying on the momentum they already had in order to make sure the payoff of the Royal Rumble WWE championship kept its oomph.
In a rare proper interview to kick off SmackDown, Renee Young sat down with Styles, the WWE champion, to discuss the growing disorder and seemingly unfair decision-making recently. How does Styles feel about the upcoming handicap match between him and Owens-Zayn? A fair question. And a fair answer.
I can lose the title, for sure, Styles said, or I could "kick the crap out of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens." Well, that's certainly the long and the short of it.
YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP! YEP!#SDLive@FightOwensFight@SamiZayn#YEPMovementpic.twitter.com/56oxJNyu8D
- WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) January 10, 2018
Owens and Zayn eventually made their way to the ring to announce that after they win the WWE title, they will become the first-ever co-champs. Hey, the company has allowed all three men in the New Day as tag-team titlists, so why not Owens and Zayn? Owens' promise was by and large the top takeaway from a show that Tuesday could be considered quality filler time.
In the opening segment, McMahon eventually made his way to the ring to announce a handicap match of his own later that night, with Owens and Zayn taking on Styles, Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura. Fun stuff, for sure, but certainly not a matchup put in place to advance the current storyline in any significant way. How would it look if Owens and Zayn beat all three of them, and then Nakamura and Orton were taken out of the equation at the Royal Rumble?
As the five men battled, Owens and Zayn finally surrendered -- at least they thought they had -- and began to walk back down the aisle to the locker room. Not so fast, said McMahon, who made his way back into the ringside area to declare this match a no-count out bout. The five men went back to work, only for Owens to crunch Orton with a steel chair, a move that got his team disqualified.
Shane O'Mac picked up his mic again and -- you guessed it -- made the main event a no-countout, no-disqualification, anything-goes match. Or as Corey Graves said, "hot garbage."
Ultimately, as Styles chased Owens up the ramp with a steel chair, the other good guys took advantage of Zayn. Nakamura nailed him with a Kinshasa and Orton landed an RKO to secure the win. Again, this was an entertaining match, perhaps even a worthy main event, especially when you consider that any additional changes to the Royal Rumble WWE championship match would be over the top and ridiculous at this point.
How this will play out is anyone's guess. With so many variables and potential twists, the Rumble is unquestionably can't-miss TV. For now, we just have to be patient and enjoy these middle chapters until the performers make their way to the grand stage in Philadelphia in what hopefully will be a blockbuster conclusion.
Hits & misses
It's nothing new for performers who have missed weeks, if not months, with injuries (or "injuries") to come back with a vengeance, but for Becky Lynch, her time away to shoot a movie was exactly what she needed to resume her mantle as a legit threat in the women's division. Lynch beat Ruby Riott by making her tap Tuesday night, and in doing so, it made the idea the she could win the Royal Rumble that much more realistic. Lynch against her former friend-turned-enemy-turned-friend again Charlotte Flair feels WrestleMania worthy. That's assuming Ronda Rousey doesn't show up and throw a wrench into all of those plans.
OK, Bludgeon Brothers, we get it. You can royally maim your opponents, as The Ascension found out again on Tuesday. But enough of the slow build -- it's time for Luke Harper and Erick Rowan to go all Braun Strowman on us and demand a title match, or at least a battle against worthy competition with a winning pedigree. Perhaps The New Day? That'd be a barnburner, no doubt.
Mojo Rawley is who we thought he was -- a high-energy, maniacal performer whose spirited routine compensates for his lack of in-ring polish. Look no further than his match-ending flying forehand punch -- a poor man's superman punch -- against former partner Zack Ryder in the final opening round match of the United States championship tournament. Still, Rawley, the most recent Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner, deserves to finally build off that momentum, even if the odds of him beating Bobby Roode in the tournament semifinals are somewhere between zero and... zero percent.
Really dug the edge Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin started to show. They were a team without a personality since joining forces, but they showed an ability to draw true heel heat by antagonizing the Birmingham, Alabama, crowd with taunts of Monday night's "lucky" outcome in the College Football Playoff National Championship game -- one decided, according to Benjamin, because of poor officiating, exactly as their tag team title match last Tuesday. Now we get Gable and Benjamin against The Usos in a two-out-of-three falls match for the tag-team titles at the Royal Rumble. Oh yeah. That's all we have to say about that.
Just not understanding why (why!) the decision-makers keep finding ways for Rusev and Aiden English to lose. They have rebuilt themselves in a way no one thought was possible. For so long, both were afterthoughts, and that is putting it mildly. On Tuesday, they fell to another team that never benefited from their own fleeting moment of stardom in Breezango. C'mon, creative team, Rusev Day and its associated momentum with fans can't carry on based on charisma alone -- or can it?
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