WWE SmackDown Has Become The Show To Watch Before SummerSlam

WWE SmackDown has long been treated as Raw’s distant number two. However, no one can deny that SmackDown is becoming the show to watch on the road to SummerSlam.

The last two weeks of WWE SmackDown Live have done a masterful job at planting seeds and getting fans excited for what the brand has in store for SummerSlam.

The long-term feud between Daniel Bryan and The Miz has been at the forefront on SmackDown Live since the latter was brought over from Raw in the Superstar Shakeup.

Rather than end the feud at Backlash, Money in the Bank or Extreme Rules, WWE held off until the road to SummerSlam began. Nothing is official yet but with the two being involved in physical confrontations in back-to-back weeks, it’s a given that we’ll finally be getting Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz at SummerSlam in a match two years in the making.

After much anticipation as to who AJ Styles’ next challenger for the WWE Championship would be, Samoa Joe made a statement by choking out the champion and signing the open contract for SummerSlam. AJ Styles is nearing the nine-month mark of his WWE Championship reign while Samoa Joe has been dominating his competition over the last few months. Both men have literally put on five star performances against each other. SummerSlam should be no different.

Arguably the most interesting wrestler on Smackdown Live ahead of SummerSlam is Randy Orton. Since returning at Exreme Rules as a villain—which he was always better as—and viciously attacking Jeff Hardy on two occasions, there is plenty of renewed intrigue in Randy Orton. When Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton last battled, it was over the United States Championship but their potential rematch at SummerSlam has more personal underlying implications.

With a victory over Hardy at SummerSlam, Orton can follow up by inserting himself into the WWE Championship fold either against AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, or both.

On the women’s side, Becky Lynch’s road to redemption will finally reach its climax at SummerSlam. While Carmella was engaged in a feud with Asuka, The Lass Kicker was quietly racking up wins over the majority of the SmackDown Women’s division. Now that she has bested the champion in non-title action, Becky Lynch is well on her way towards becoming a two-time SmackDown Women’s Championship and re-establishing herself as the franchise of the SmackDown Live women’s division.

The Bludgeon Brothers have had a chokehold on the SmackDown tag team division for most of 2018. However, General Manager, Paige announced a mini-tournament to determine the former Wyatt Family brethren’s next challengers. The New Day have already advanced thanks to a win over Sanity and they now await the winners of The Bar vs. The Usos in the finals.

With the marquee matches for SmackDown already in the works, there are still a few key people on the roster with unclear paths to SummerSlam. Shinsuke Nakamura is without a challenger, “Cien” Almas has had solid performances in back-to-back weeks, and Rusev’s tension with Aiden English is growing. The next few weeks will determine where and with whom they will fit at the biggest party of the summer.

SmackDown is starting to find its form with its headliners firing on all cylinders in their respective rivalries. While the focus has been on Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar and Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey, the SmackDown Live roster are dark horses to steal the show at SummerSlam.