WWE SmackDown Live Continues to Prove They’re the Land of Oppourtunity

With talents getting new chances on Smackdown Live, the blue brand continues to prove that they are truly the land of opportunity in WWE.

When Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan took over running Smackdown Live back in July, they vowed to make the brand the land of opportunity. They wanted to give stars who might not be given chances over on RAW, the opportunities to become top stars.

Stars like Bray Wyatt, The Miz and Alexa Bliss were given spots and chances that they had never been given before. They used this opportunity to become some of the bigger stars of the brand and took this momentum over to RAW when they were moved during the superstar swap.

With a new year now in WWE just beginning and with new opportunities happening new superstars are getting their chances to achieve greatness on Smackdown Live. The first star doing this is Jinder Mahal.

When Mahal returned to WWE back in July, he signed with Monday Night RAW and quickly dipped to the bottom of the roster. At WrestleMania, the potential Jinder had finally started to show when he made it to the final two in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

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Despite coming up just short to Mojo Rawley (Thanks to help from Rob Gronkowski), Mahal showed that he could be more than just a jobber in WWE. When the Superstar Shakeup took place Smackdown Live took a chance on Mahal.

In only his second week on the blue brand, Mahal won a Six-Pack Challenge that awarded him the No. 1 Contendership for the WWE Championship. Mahal then went on to cut a great promo talking how he was overlooked because he was different.

Jinder the following week would attack Randy Orton and steal his WWE Championship, driving away with it with his new stablemates, the Singh Brothers, in a stretch limo. In two weeks Jinder Mahal has shown how good he can be when given an opportunity.

Other superstars in the match shined as well such as Sami Zayn, Erick Rowan and Luke Harper. All three showed that when booked correctly they could become major players on the blue brand. This week on Smackdown Live showed that tag teams can have an opportunity.

It seemed heading into Backlash that American Alpha would once again face The Usos for the Tag Team Championships. However, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan decided to give multiple teams a chance as they held a beat the clock challenge.

With their opportunity, Breezango won the challenge and became the No. 1 Contenders to the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. This came out of nowhere as many did not think anyone but American Alpha would face The Usos until the New Day made their debut.

Tyler Breeze and Fandango both have personalities but have been lying in limbo since they got drafted to Smackdown Live last summer. Breeze was even a top star down in NXT, and one Triple H’s favorite talents when he was down there.

It seems the two will finally have a chance to show that could potentially be Tag Team Champions on the blue brand. Another new addition who hopes to become champion as well in Rusev.

Last week on Smackdown Live, an injured Rusev cut a promo stating he would only arrive to Smackdown Live if he was given a title shot at Money in the Bank in June. It seems likely that he will but the question still arises which belt will it be?

When he was drafted to RAW in July, Rusev seemed in the rosters plan to be a major player as he was the United States Champion at the time. However, after he lost the belt to Roman Reigns he fell out of the picture.

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Rusev has shown potential many times to be a marquee guy but has never gotten the correct push to do so. With him now being on a new brand he might now get the opportunities that were passed on him when he was on RAW.

Rusev’s wife Lana will also be joining him on Tuesday Nights however it seems like she will be focusing on her wrestling career. Vignettes have been aired showing that Lana looks to be ready to enter the Women’s division.

Lana certainly has the look and is good on the microphone if she can get solid in the ring she could have a promising career. Smackdown Live continues to prove that they are better brand in developing stars than RAW.

Monday Night RAW has remained to have issues with depth and with the brand adding new talents during the Shakeup you still see the many flaws in the show. They had Rusev and Jinder Mahal and did little to nothing with both of them.

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If RAW wants to try and close the gap with Smackdown Live, they should take some plays from the blue brand’s playbook and begin to give chances to more than just Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.