WWE SmackDown Live: Winners and Losers For September 26

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

• Shinsuke Nakamura

For several weeks, Nakamura has sat idly by while Jinder Mahal spewed hateful racist comments about him. Say what you want about the babyface/heel dynamic, but these promos by Mahal were terrible. Worse, Nakamura just let it go? No retribution for such words? It makes him look weak.

Well, finally this week, The King of Strong Style fought back. While Jinder pulled up a “still image” on the Titantron, Shinsuke had replaced it with a live video. After some quality mime work, Nak announced he was coming for Jinder.

My only complaint about this segment is minor. Shinsuke has a great entrance, so I get why he did the full thing. But how much better would it have been if he pulled a page out of the Bray Wyatt playbook and just appeared in the ring? Catching Jinder and the Singh Brothers by surprise would have improved an already much improved storyline.

• Bobby Roode

For no reason other than finally providing some variety to the terrible Dolph Zigger material, Roode is a glorious winner this week. Rather than getting yet another full cycle of Ziggler playing homage to the greats of yesteryear, he got interrupted by Roode to set up a long anticipated match.

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Because things are finally moving forward with Ziggler – and now Roode after a several week absence from television – it’s a clear win for both. The Glorious One is super over with the fans, who are going to want to see him just obliterate Ziggler.

But Ziggler is going to benefit from this as well. Roode is still a relative newcomer to WWE, even though he’s a seasoned veteran. Both superstars will be able to make themselves look good in a feud, if given time to let it build and grow.

Losers

• Hype Bros

The poor timing of Zack Ryder’s knee injury some months back has put the Hype Bros in a weird limbo that has no end in sight. There’s obviously a plan to split them up – Mojo Rawley getting an abbreviated singles run during the spring is clear evidence of such. But to go back to a tag team just to officially break them up? That’s strange.

A better thing for both superstars would have been to just have them organically go their separate ways upon Ryder’s return. Just briefly acknowledge the “split” in a backstage segment. Mojo had become a decent competitor in his own right, and lest we forget the Broski is a former US Champion.

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Instead, we’re dealing with a awkward, drawn out breakup angle. The Hype Bros keep challenging superior tag teams, only to lose and be pushed further apart. It looks like Rawley may be the heel this week, but a few weeks back it looked like Ryder was the one who would turn. It’s interminable, and we’d be better off without it.