Coming out of their last pay-per-view (PPV), Team Blue will nurse their wounds over the “best burger in America” in Grand Rapids, Michigan!
The Headliners
Thanks in part to the last second decision by General Manager Daniel Bryan to make their match a Triple Threat involving Tye Dillinger, Baron Corbin now holds the United States championship instead of AJ Styles. That’s a situation The Phenomenal One hopes to rectify tonight when he revokes his rematch clause for a one-on-one shot at The Lone Wolf.
In announcing his plans to have that match take place immediately, Styles also commented on the real main attraction of the Oct. 10 episode of SmackDown... Sami Zayn’s comments on why he helped Kevin Owens avoid a 20 foot elbow drop and earn a pinfall victory over commissioner Shane McMahon in their Falls Count Anywhere Hell in a Cell showdown.
New #USChampion @BaronCorbinWWE defends his #USTitle against @AJStylesOrg TOMORROW NIGHT on #SDLive! Plus, why, @SamiZayn, why??! #RAW pic.twitter.com/pa1b4Tqte5
— WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2017
I’ve written quite a bit already on what I think Sami might say, and why I’m optimistic about this angle. What will the man himself say? How does Owens feel about receiving an assist from a former friend he believed he’d left behind? Is Shane even healthy enough to show up?
We probably won’t get answers to all those questions tonight, but we should begin dealing with some of them. And if rumors are to be believed, that might lead to a guy in the current U.S. title picture being folded into the Zayn/KO/McMahon story for Survivor Series.
Insert Big E eating popcorn GIF here.
The Title Scene
Speaking of Wool, he and Xavier Woods came up short in their own Cell match against their archrivals The Usos tag champs. Jimmy and Jey left the cage with the straps in their possession for the fifth time in their careers. They say matches in that structure change people, and The New Day’s latest battle with Rikishi’s boys was as brutal an affair as we’ve seen in the PG Era. Tonight we’ll find out more about how different the four men who survived in Detroit are.
The record book will show she retained her Women’s title, but it was far from a decisive victory for Natalya at Hell in a Cell. The Queen of Harts technically lost to Charlotte Flair thanks to her steel cage assault of The Nature Girl, meaning we’re probably headed to another round of this family rivalry.
Shinsuke Nakamura came up short in his latest chance to take the WWE championship away from Jinder Mahal. And despite some involvement by The Singh Brothers, this one was a relatively clean win for The Maharajah, so Nak may not get another shot. So who’s next? Or should I say, how will WWE kill time to get to their December tour of India with the belt still around Jinder’s waist?
Other stuff to keep an eye on:
- While we await the next round of Charlotte vs. Natty, the other women in the division continue jockeying for position. Flair’s bestie Becky Lynch will square off tonight against a woman who technically doesn’t need to jockey for position - Ms. Money in the Bank, Carmella.
- Fashion Files returned, but without any answers. Breezango do seem to have Marsellus Wallace’s soul in their possession though, so here come the 90s and... Pulp Fashion!
- Sadly, another Rusev Day was ruined by Randy Orton. I don’t know what comes next for The Viper, The Bulagarian Brute or Aiden English. I also don’t know what to do with all these Rusev Day decorations.
- He picked up a win in his PPV debut (and won the battle of the entrances), but Bobby Roode ended up writhing on the mat in pain after Dolph Ziggler took him out after their match. The Glorious One will likely have something to say about that tonight.
- The break-up we were expecting didn’t happen on the Hell in a Cell Kickoff, but Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder still had some issues and couldn’t snap out of their losing streak. We’ll see how their story evolves, and find out if Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin are one step closer to a title shot, tonight.
It’s the Hell in a Cell fallout show!
What will you be looking for on SmackDown Live tonight?