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WWE SmackDown Live: Winners and Losers For September 19

By Bryan Heaton

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Who were the big winners and losers on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live?

After WWE SmackDown Live on Tuesday, there are a handful of superstars who are seeing their stock rise. Likewise, a couple of superstars look like they’ve hit a rough spot. A pro wrestler’s career is always full of peaks and valleys, but in WWE they get magnified because of the number of eyes on them at all times.

With that said, let’s take a look at some superstars on the move after SmackDown Live this week.

Winners

  • Charlotte Flair

It was perhaps a perfect story for Charlotte’s return on this week’s SmackDown. First, The Queen got a chance to show her human side. Addressing the WWE Universe after her absence was a nice touch. And somewhat updating about her dad’s condition was probably unnecessary (only because everyone pretty much knew what was going on), but it was a nice touch.

After the promo side of things, Charlotte took part in a fatal four way match. There wasn’t a drop of ring rust to be seen – not bad after several weeks off television. In fact, Charlotte looked right at home, as if she never left. The moonsault she landed on both Naomi and Tamina was a thing of beauty.

By the end of the match, Charlotte picked up a victory, becoming number one contender for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. All in all, not a bad way to return to television.

  • Rusev

Seeing Rusev as happy as he was backstage makes me almost as happy. The Bulgarian Brute’s match itself was pretty short. And while it may not be a pay per view victory, there is some retribution in his victory over Randy Orton this week.

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But who cares about all that? Rusev is a winner this week for showing a wealth of charisma in his segment with Renee Young. A bouncing, joy-filled RuRu was practically skipping backstage. When Renee asked if he was elated, all Rusev could answer was, “WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?” It was amazing.

Rusev has always been a guy with more personality than he got to show. He was the silent powerhouse for much of his early career, but you could see there was more under the surface. Now that he’s getting to show it, his career should ascend to new heights.

Losers

  • Jinder Mahal

You know, I tried my best to ignore how terrible Jinder Mahal’s segment was last week. But it was pretty bad. At best, it was a misguided attempt at heel schtick. At worst, it was a terribly racist slandering of one of WWE’s most popular superstars.

So this wee, The Singh Brothers brought Jinder down to the ring again. Maybe the WWE Champion would try something a little different? Initially, it wasn’t a good segment, but it was a bit better than the garbage from last week.

But when Jinder tried to take it home, hoo boy did he take it home. The most stereotypical way to make fun of a Japanese man is replacing your Ls with Rs, so that’s what Jinder does here. When we finally get to Hell in a Cell, watching Shinsuke Nakamura put a knee through Mahal’s face is going to be some sweet revenge.

  • Baron Corbin

The Lone Wolf is sure to be upset with himself this week. He had his big shot at the US Championship. And he even went the extra step of attacking AJ Styles before the match. Corbin did everything in his power to gain an advantage over Styles.

Then, the unexpected happened. Tye Dillinger ran in to both save Styles, and exact revenge on Corbin for the attacks the past few weeks. Dillinger clipped The Lone Wolf’s leg, hobbling the big man and sending him to the outside. And after all that, Corbin was unable to compete, and the match was waved off.

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Corbin had himself in the perfect position to become US Champion, but he ended up unable to compete. That’s a pretty steep slide in less than one segment. Now, he looks like a nobody, as opposed to “guy who can murder you with his bare hands”.