WWE SmackDown Live: How The US Title Tournament Should Be Booked
By Dalton Quix
Credit: WWE.com
On WWE SmackDown Live, Daniel Bryan announced an eight man tournament to crown a new champion after Dolph Ziggler supposedly relinquished his United States Championship.
The tournament is an eight man single elimination tourney that consists of some of WWE SmackDown Live’s top stars. We have already seen half of the matches of the first round which consisted of Bobby Roode, Baron Corbin, Jinder Mahal, and Tye Dillinger.
Bobby Roode defeated Baron Corbin, while Jinder Mahl defeated Tye Dillinger to advance to the second round. The other four competitors have yet to be announced, but it should be easy to figure out who should enter that tournament.
With Rusev and English now a tag team, and the likes of Nakamura, Orton, Owens, and Zayn still involved in the main event scene, we are left with only four other singles competitors to choose from for the tournament. Those four would be Zack Ryder, Mojo Rawley, Sin Cara, and the forgotten Mike Kanellis.
I would pair up Mojo against Sin Cara in the first round so Mojo could get an easy squash. This way, Rawley can build steam as a heel following his break up from Zack Ryder. I would then have his former Hype Bro, Zack Ryder, come out victorious against Mike Kanellis because, well, there’s no reason for Kanellis to win.
In the semifinals, we would have Roode against Jinder Mahal. This would be an evenly matched contest that could see Roode win by either another roll up or by DQ if the Singh Brothers or Baron Corbin interfere. Jinder would have to come out looking strong, but Roode would have to come out with the win.
Then, in the other semifinal matchup, it would be a rematch between the Hype Bros, and the result will end up the same. Mojo should go over Ryder to continue the momentum he has built up as a heel and so he can be taken as a serious threat.
So, in the finals, likely three or four weeks from now, Bobby Roode would be facing off against none other than Mojo Rawley for the United States Championship. This is where the booking would begin to get unconventional.
Credit: WWE.com
Rather than having a definitive winner, I would have the match end in a count out or some other form of a no contest. Then, Daniel Bryan would come out claiming that they must claim a champion so he would restart the match.
However, before he could do so, Dolph Ziggler’s music would hit and he would make his return to the ring. He would claim that the reason he is back is not because the fans and WWE deserve him but because they NEED him.
He would say how no one is at his level and no one is worthy of being a champion, which is why no one ended up winning the match. So, he would say that he will reclaim his United States Championship in order to preserve its prestige and be the champion that the WWE Universe needs.
Then, Daniel Bryan would of course say that Ziggler can’t just reclaim the title, but since SmackDown Live is the land of opportunity, he would be able to face the winner of the match between Mojo and Roode.
Roode would go on to win the match and would face Dolph Ziggler for the United States Championship at the Royal Rumble to close out their months long rivalry. I would have Roode go over here since he would already have a rivalry with Baron Corbin lined up on the Road to WrestleMania.
Either way, expect Dolph Ziggler to get involved before this tournament is over since he is still working house shows for SmackDown.