R-Truth’s US Open Challenge Could Be SmackDown’s Weekly Highlight

After an entertaining triple threat match against Rey Mysterio and Andrade, it’s clear that R-Truth’s U.S. Open Challenge could quickly become a weekly highlight of SmackDown

I’ll just go ahead and say it. Any episode of WWE Raw or SmackDown Live is simply better when it has an open challenge to look forward to.

The unpredictable nature of these challenges, combined with the intense action they frequently bring, makes these segments one of the few edge-of-your-seat moments a weekly WWE show can reliably count on.

While we’ve frequently seen these sorts of challenges reserved for some of the biggest names in WWE, a rather unexpected competitior has taken up the mantle left behind by the likes of John Cena and Seth Rollins.

On SmackDown, R-Truth recently begun his own weekly open challenges, something which appears could become a recurring segment going forward.

On the surface, Truth seems like a unique and unexpected person to reestablish this tradition. After all, Truth’s been stuck in the lower mid-card for years now, and has only recently seen a revitalized push.

In fact, it was just a short time ago that fans, and Truth himself, were collectively wondering where the United States champion had been on SmackDown. For awhile, it appeared like even that revitalized push could be in question despite Truth’s new belt. The situation had gotten so dire that it seemed like WWE was at risk of dropping the ball on Truth’s title reign entirely.

Luckily, WWE came up with the timely solution of having Truth defend his United States Championship in an open challenge against Rey Mysterio and Andrade on SmackDown:

The resulting segment and match was an incredibly entertaining affair that saw each superstar involved receive a chance to shine, perhaps Truth himself most of all.

Before the match, R-Truth took the mic to explain how he was going to start his own open challenge in order to honor his so-called childhood hero, John Cena.

Needless to say, it was a pretty hilarious justification for the new challenge, one that really highlighted what makes Truth so entertaining while also giving him a direction to take this segment into the future.

During the match itself, Truth was able to shine in the ring as well. He was able to get in some of his high energy, athletic maneuvers that somehow still look as ageless as the man himself.

Altogether, that initial segment and match should be proof enough alone for WWE to keep the U.S. title on Truth and give him a real chance to build the legacy of these open challenge matches.

The possibilities for future greatness from this angle are practically limitless, with potential matches against returning superstars like Bray Wyatt, new NXT call-ups, or even John Cena himself all available for WWE to make.

While it may have been hard to fathom just a short time ago, R-Truth’s U.S. Championship reign really feels like the perfect vehicle to return one of WWE’s most entertaining angles to weekly TV.