10 Ways SmackDown Live! Can Recover Before 2018

5. The Power Of Love

Aiden English Sami Zayn Kevin Owens
WWE

How do you solve a problem like Mike and Maria?

The loved-up pair looked set to thrill audiences with knowingly absurd arrogance when they made their unannounced debut at June's Money In The Bank pay-per-view, but the spark fizzled almost immediately after failing to even appear on the follow-up SmackDown Live! episode, before getting sucked into a 50/50 conflict with Sami Zayn the following week.

The talented former 'Miracle' and his equally sensational wife can offer much to the show as indulgent and ignorant ignoramuses more obsessed with longing looks towards one another than whatever threat an incredulous opponent could offer.

Maria recently revealed her husband's recent addiction problems with pain medication, and in reality, his personal recovery may be of greater importance than how they can contribute to the brand's overall health.

However, contribute they must, with Tuesday nights in dire, dire need of heels for the rotation of babyfaces to tussle with in between queuing up for matches with Jinder Mahal. The logjam is proving fatal to the progression of the show, and of all the bottlenecked talent, these two could and should be able to escape the cluster.

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