Since the Superstar Shakeup, WWE SmackDown Live has been hesitant to progress storylines, often leading to pointless, never-ending rematches.
In the wake of the Superstar Shakeup, WWE SmackDown found itself in a precarious position. Their main event scene and many world champions, (including the next challenger to the WWE Championship, Bray Wyatt), were shipped off to Monday nights.
In what seemed like a whim, carefully crafted storylines had fallen to shambles, which permeated through the entire roster. While developing new credible threats to SmackDown’s championships as well as intriguing storylines, the blue brand seems to be idling in a state of limbo. As these stories continue to be crafted, superstars have been placed in increasingly familiar matches for seemingly no reason.
These aren’t simply rematches, but what seems like a hesitancy on the part of WWE booking or creative to fully commit to an angle or storyline, or their inability to adjust to storyline changes on the fly. Due to SmackDown’s reliance on the reset button, SmackDown has suffered significantly.
Perhaps the first step in rebuilding SmackDown to it post-draft greatness, took place on Sept. 5, when Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Randy Orton to become the new (and previous) #1 contender for the WWE Championship.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Dolph Ziggler
In the post WrestleMania call ups, Nakamura arrived on SmackDown to much fanfare from the WWE Universe. He was the blue brands best acquisition during the Superstar Shakeup, and they treated him like one. They saved his much anticipated in-ring debut for the SmackDown exclusive PPV Backlash.
In the weeks leading into Backlash, he was paired with another great in-ring performer, Dolph Ziggler. Though there build highlighted bother of their weaknesses (mic skills), the expectation was that when the bell rang these two competitors could put on the match of the night. Except they didn’t.
Don’t get me wrong, the match wasn’t awful, but it also wasn’t memorable. The two traded offense for 15 minutes, before Nakamura got the pinfall off a Kinshasa. Nothing about the match stood out as being unique or compelling, especially when you’re trying to build Nakamura as WWE’s next international superstar.
Instead of cutting bait, and putting both superstars in more compelling stories, they had a re-match less than a month later. From a storyline standpoint it made no sense whatsoever. Nakamura had beaten Dolph clean. To their credit, the rematch was more engaging. It was a faster, more brutal affair that was a more effective iteration of their match at Backlash. But lead to the same outcome.
Maybe WWE wanted to give television audiences a chance to see their new international star in action for free. However, the rematch cheapened the importance of their initial PPV encounter and of the two superstars. Lazy booking and a lack of creative direction for one of their biggest superstars started Nakamura off on the wrong foot.
AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens: Fight! For! Ev-Er!
Everything about this matchup oozes greatness. Kevin Owens and AJ Styles are both among the best superstars on the SmackDown Live roster. So it was fitting that their feud for the United States Championship was treated like the blue brand’s main event. However, playing hot-potato with the belt stopped the story line’s momentum dead in its tracks. But things went from bad to worse when the two reportedly botched the ending to their match at BattleGround.
With the Crippler Crossface locked in on Kevin Owens, AJ Styles was surprisingly pinned to lose the championship he had just won at a house show at Madison Square Garden. Kevin Owens then became a three time United States Champion in just a few short months. Two days later, AJ Styles would win the United States Championship for a second time in three days after pinning Chris Jericho in an impromptu Triple-Threat match.
Instead of working the storyline around the original botched finished at Battleground, WWE then decided to recreate it a week later in another rematch. During the match, a dazed ref, who had taken a shot to the face earlier, awarded Styles the victory via pinfall. The only problem was that Kevin Owens’ shoulder was off the mat. This would lead to another shot at the United States Championship at SummerSlam, with Shane McMahon as special guest referee. Their feud mercifully came to an end the Tuesday after SummerSlam, when Kevin Owens was once again beaten by AJ Styles.
The Styles/ Owens feud was “too much of a good thing…”Perhaps the botch during their match at BattleGround forced WWE creative to prolong their feud well beyond its shelf life. But I refuse to believe that they couldn’t have found a quicker resolution for a feud that included 8 championship matches and 3 title changes, over the course of 3 months.
First (and Second) -Ever, Women’s Money in the Bank Match
By far the most egregious instance of the WWE resetting a match, is the now infamous first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. The match had a great build up that present every woman on the roster as a threat. As chaos erupted during a Fatal Five-Way for the #1 contendership, Commissioner Shane McMahon announced that they would participate in the first-ever women’s WMITB match. It signified the next step in the women’s revolution in the WWE.
However, during the finish, James Ellsworth literally climbed the ladder and dropped the briefcase to Carmella on the ring below. That’s right, a man was the first ever holder of the women’s briefcase. The match’s finish lead to an extreme amount of criticism from from fans and media outlets that covered Money in the Bank.
Instead of turning into the swerve, WWE tried to re-write the history books by having a rematch just nine days after the controversial finish. Despite not breaking any rules, Carmella would have to put her MITB briefcase up for grabs. With that decision, WWE booked themselves into a no-win situation. If Carmella were to lose during the rematch, she would effectively be punished for WWE’s terrible booking sense and fan backlash. If she won the rematch, WWE would be passively admitting that they had made a mistake.
The same exact story played out in the ring, with many of the same spots. The only difference being that Carmella actually climbed the ladder to the claim the briefcase. So, what was the point of the rematch? There was none, outside of WWE’s inability to adjust.
Next: Major Problem WWE Creative is Facing
While these are the most significant examples they are by no means the only ones. In fact, Tye Dillinger and Aiden English were pointlessly battling on pay-per-view preshows. With an incredibly deep and talented roster that includes Sami Zayn, Luke Harper, Rusev, and Tye Dillinger , and Mike Kanellis, it’s amazing that SmackDown seems to be relying so heavily on the same matches and feuds. However, the further we get from the Superstar Shakeup it feels like SmackDown is beginning to right the ship.