WWE Smackdown Live results and observations (7/25/17): AJ Styles is champion once again
Just when I thought Smackdown Live was going to spend an extended period of time in the doldrums, the blue brand bounced back with a very exciting show Tuesday night at the The Coliseum in Richmond, Va.
Smackdown Live's most recent pay-per-view offering, Battleground, left a lot of pessimism amongst the fans as to the overall direction of the brand. It seemed like the show that was once consistently good was in the midst of a downward spiral that was not going to end anytime soon.
It didn't help that Smackdown Live's counterpart, Raw, was pumping out some quality installments of its show lately.
However, Tuesday's show laid the foundation for what could be a pretty fun road to SummerSlam.
Before I dive any deeper into my thoughts on the show, here are the full match results:
- Shinsuke Nakamura def. Baron Corbin
- Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch def. Lana & Tamina
- Tye Dillinger & Sami Zayn def. Aiden English & Mike Kanellis
- WWE United States championship – AJ Styles def. Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho
John Cena to face Nakamura next week!
I know the show ended with a major title change, but let's be honest about all of this.
The one thing people are going to be talking about for the next week is the match between Cena and Nakamura on next week's episode of Smackdown Live, where the winner will face Jinder Mahal for the WWE championship at SummerSlam.
The match came about after Mahal demanded to know whom his SummerSlam opponent was going to be. Out came Cena to essentially put Mahal on notice that his time as champion was winding down and that world title reign No. 17 would begin at SummerSlam.
It seemed like we were definitely getting Cena versus Mahal at SummerSlam, but that was until Smackdown Live general manager Daniel Bryan came out and told Cena that although he is worthy of a title shot, he does not have the ability to make matches.
Bryan then booked Cena against Nakamura in a No. 1 contender's match that is surely quite intriguing.
I look at Nakamura facing Cena next week in multiple ways. My first instinct is to wonder why WWE isn't going to save this for a pay-per-view. It is certainly worthy of being on that stage.
Heck, the match could easily main event WrestleMania. Instead, WWE is advertising this dream match for next week.
Fans are obviously paranoid at the thought of Cena defeating Nakamura, which would be his first loss on the main roster. Nakamura fans would be quite unhappy if that was the outcome and I'm putting that lightly.
However, it could turn out to be an opportunity for Nakamura to go over Cena and cement the former IWGP Heavyweight champion as a major star, much like what WWE did with Styles this time a year ago.
Or maybe Smackdown Live has something else up its sleeve.
Either way, I'm looking forward to it.
AJ Styles is champion again
As I mentioned earlier, Styles regained the United States title 48 hours after losing it at Battleground in Philadelphia.
Styles regained the title by defeating Owens and a returning Jericho in a very entertaining triple threat match that closed the show.
Owens was distraught about losing the title again after the match and immediately invoked his rematch clause against Styles for a match next week.
It looks as though that Styles' loss at Battleground was indeed planned, as it also served as a way to re-introduce Jericho, but what I am wondering now is where does everyone go from here?
Like Cena versus Nakamura, the triple threat match we all witnessed this past Tuesday was more than worthy of taking place on pay-per-view. Styles, Owens and Jericho certainly provided pay-per-view-quality action in the ring.
You have to imagine Styles will retain the United States title next week, which means he could be defending the title at SummerSlam, but where does that leave Owens?
Where does that leave Jericho, who is seemingly out of the United States title picture after losing his automatic rematch?
Although the finish to Tuesday's main event was definitive, it left me with more questions than answers.
Jericho is back!
What about Jericho returning to Smackdown Live, huh? How cool was that?
That was a rhetorical question because we all know it was pretty darn cool.
To no one's surprise, Jericho looked like he had not missed a beat on the microphone or in the ring. It is truly amazing how this man is able to continue to hang with the likes of Styles and Owens after his lengthy career.
The Usos crashed The New Day's party
We all knew that we were going to get at least one more tag title match between The New Day and The Usos due to the latter automatically getting a rematch, which after their stellar showing at Battleground, I don't think anyone would complain about.
However, it seems like the rivalry between the teams is as heated as ever after The Usos crashed The New Day's celebration of winning the Smackdown Tag Team titles before it ever get started.
The New Day could not even make their entrance before The Usos attacked them backstage.
Although another match between the teams is on the horizon, I doubt it takes place at SummerSlam. I could definitely see WWE wanting to make that match happen on an upcoming edition of Smackdown Live.
Vaughn Johnson has a podcast with Nick Piccone called the Straight Shooters on WildfireRadio.com. Check it out here HERE.