5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SmackDown Live (30 Aug)
The pressure was on for Miz and Daniel Bryan, but did they deliver?
As disjointed as Raw was this week, its stunning conclusion raised the bar impossibly high for SmackDown Live. Triple H-related misgivings aside, Kevin Owens’ Universal Championship win will go down as one of 2016’s most memorable moments, and as consistent as SmackDown has been lately, there was no way they’d be able to replicate the euphoria of KO’s victory.
Not only did SmackDown have the Owens hype to overcome, but also an immense level of pressure to successfully follow-up on last week’s confrontation between The Miz and Daniel Bryan. Miz’s fiery polemic made him the talk of the internet, and placed the Intercontinental Champion in a bigger spotlight than any he’d occupied in years. WWE captured their audience’s imagination with the Talking Smack segment, but they had to build on it, otherwise it’d all be for nothing.
Did SmackDown succeed? Partially. The non-wrestling portions of the show were as important and purposeful as fans have come to expect since the Brand Split, but the in-ring action lagged behind. SmackDown’s matches weren’t terrible, but they were far from exciting, and the Miz/Bryan follow-up worked for one party, but not the other.
Regardless, September’s Backlash card is really starting to take shape, and a number of well-developed feuds and storylines are starting to emerge throughout the card. Several wrestlers climbed the ladder last night, while others fell further behind. Going beyond straightforward match results, here are the 5 biggest winners and losers from WWE SmackDown Live.