10 Ways SmackDown Live! Can Recover Before 2018

9. World's Greatest Alphas

Aiden English Sami Zayn Kevin Owens
WWE.com

Chad Gable probably didn't envisage how his first year on the main roster would pan out, not least after salvaging Jason Jordan's flagging NXT career and helping him become part of one of the group's most dynamic double acts, but his brand new partnership with Shelton Benjamin might as well be worth investing in.

The pair were successful in their maiden outing against token show losers The Ascension, and already had a shared TitanTron video and the odd double-team manoeuvre to help introduce them to the SmackDown Live! crowd.

Ignoring some of the obvious problems faced in establishing the team in the first place, there may be a huge upside to the duo. Gable is perhaps one of the most underrated performers on the entire roster, and Shelton Benjamin has been waiting months to finally redebut before he became too old for one final run at the highest level.

The SmackDown Live! tag team title belts have bounced around frequently since their September 2016 inception, and whomever emerges from the New Day/Usos feud with the gold in tact (more on that later) won't have too far to look before they catch glimpse of this exciting new team in their path.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett