4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (4 July - Results & Review)
Ups...
4. Talla Tonga Makes The Difference
The artist formerly known as Hikuleo made his official on-camera WWE debut at Night Of Champions by helping Solo Sikoa defeat Jacob Fatu to become brand new United States Champ. Of course, it used to be Fatu himself doing this sort of dirty work for Sikoa, so there's a neat idea of progression from one imposing bodyguard to the next at play.
On SmackDown, it was the renamed Tala/Talla Tonga (WWE has used both solo 'l' and double 'l' spellings) who had the last laugh once more. He didn't make an impact during the tag bout pitting Solo and JC Mateo vs. Jacob and Jimmy Uso though. Fatu pinned Sikoa to end that, then Solo's new crew blasted him through the announce desk with a Shield-style triple powerbomb and stood tall to close the night.
That works. Tala/Talla should be presented as somebody who's more powerful and dangerous than Jacob right now, and he should be the difference maker for Solo's reworked Bloodline. Oops! Sikoa said during a pre-tape promo (again one formatted strangely on the broadcast) that this wasn't another version of The Bloodline. Sorry, sir, but it pretty much is exactly that.
Some might disagree, but going with Solo as the US Champ and Jacob in the role of someone who's chasing revenge is the best way to go with this story heading into SummerSlam. As aforementioned over Night Of Champions weekend, don't be too surprised if Jey Uso joins his brother Jimmy in aiding Fatu as allies fighting against their brother's bid for dominance.