WWE Backlash: What It Means For Smackdown

By “The Savior” Joseph Reds

Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @WelpThatsAThing

By now you know that Backlash is over. We know who won, we know who lost but what we don’t know is what this means for Smackdown Live from here on out.

Let’s start with the Women’s Title match.
This was in no way the best Women’s match ever, it had many awkward moments where a superstar would be pinning another, only to have a third superstar pull her off to break the pin. It made zero sense, it’s an elimination match so why are you preventing others from being eliminate. That being said, it was actually a very good match. The women of Smackdown showed us what we can expect from them. Nikki Bella was what we’ve come to know from her, only in baby face form. Natalya kind of stayed the same, though she showed us that she may be seen more as the powerhouse of the division with multiple power bombs. Alexa Bliss showed a new side of her a la Christian in the mid 2000s. Bliss threw temper tantrums and got furious when she didn’t get her way, but she also showed that she’s been developing an impressive move set and deserved her call up to the Main Roster. Naomi showed us that she shouldn’t be overlooked, which she was for quite some time before the brand split. Naomi had versatile moves and displayed her huge amounts of athleticism. Carmella was a huge surprise. To date she’s only had one significantly great match. It was against her friend Bayley for the NXT Women’s Championship. Keep in mind, that it was against Bayley and Bayley made Nia Jax look good. Let that sink in Bayley made Nia Jax look good. Therefore, we really didn’t have any basis for what Carmella could really do. We saw it, finally, on Backlash. She was a great heel, taking her anger and fury out on everyone, while also showing a smoother delivery of her own move set. Finally, we get to Becky Lynch. Becky Lynch is great. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. Except, perhaps, for the WWE. After all, up until Sunday Night, she always seemed to get overlooked. Finally she got her shot. They put the new belt on her and cemented her as the face of the Smackdown Women’s Division. Moving forward, what does this all mean for Smackdown? Well, it means that people were wrong when the draft happened, me included. Most of us thought the Women’s Division was too weak to be split. Then with Sasha Banks and Charlotte (and later Bayley) on RAW, it seemed that Smackdown had no one of value other than Lynch. Backlash showed us that we can rest easy. No, they probably aren’t quite as good as the triplet of Sasha, Bayley and Charlotte, but they show promise. These women show us that there is plenty to work with in elevating their brand.

Now let’s move on to the Tag Team Titles.
Yay! Heath Slater and Rhyno won! But not for long. It was an unfortunate conclusion to the Heath Slater Free Agent angle. Yes he accomplished his goal, but the angle has nowhere else to go. He’ll most likely drop the titles to American Alpha or the Usos soon and the division will remain weak. That being said, the new titles look pretty cool.

Now we move onto The Intercontinental Championship picture.
The Miz beat Dolph Ziggler in great heel fashion. The Miz has shown that he is one of the top heels in the WWE right now. He’s great, truly, his promos are legendary. The Miz’s match with Ziggler showed that he CAN hang between the ropes too. The Miz is be truly bringing back a legitimacy to the IC Title. Keeping him as the champ is the right move, he’ll have him break the record. The Honky Tonk Man should not have it anyways and the nuclear heat of The Miz taking the record will catapult him back to the main event scene. Now they keep teasing an odd angle between The Miz and Daniel Bryan. WWE stop. Daniel Bryan needs to stay retired. I believe the WWE is better with Daniel Bryan the wrestler. It really is. Yet, Bryan Danielson the man is not worth risking. If I saw him turn into the next Chris Benoit I would be crushed. Don’t do it WWE. As far as Ziggler goes he’ll probably get a few more matches but ultimately fail, as I said they seem to be building to a Miz v Bryan match. Unfortunately, past the Miz, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler love triangle, their isn’t much for the midcard. Either superstars need to step up, or the WWE needs to send Cesaro and Sami Zayn over to Smackdown.

Now we have the curious situation that is the WWE’S love for making Bray Wyatt useless.
Bray Wyatt is great, but every angle he’s involved with he ends up on the losing end. Things hit an all time low Sunday Night when he lost to Kane. I love Kane. He’s an importantly terrifying part of my childhood. That being said, the dude is beyond old. If Bray Watt is supposed to be “The New Face Of Fear” and be the next Undertaker. Why does he lose every single match he’s in? He looks like a chump. Bray’s promos are fantastic and he builds himself as an unbelievable threat and then……he loses. This happens time and time again. It doesn’t seem that that will be changing any time soon.

Finally we come to the main event scene.
AJ Styles is the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. And his match was Phenomenal. Pun very much intended. Styles has shown himself as not just the best wrestler on Smackdown, but the whole of WWE Dean Ambrose will most likely continue in this angle after Styles cheated to pick up his victory. At some point you have to assume that John Cena will get involved, after all Styles keeps touting himself as the “Man Who Runs The Place”. The big question is, who else will dangle around the main event scene? On RAW you have Zayn, Rollins, Reigns, Owens, Jericho, Lesnar, Finn Balor (when healthy), Sheamus, Cesaro even Colin Cassidy. Smackdown has Cena who isn’t around much anymore, Styles, Ambrose, Orton, maybe Ziggler and then nothing. Of course we’re going have our Dean Ambrose/AJ Styles rematch but then what? Who is going to step up to the plate? I have my money on an old nemesis of Styles’, Samoa Joe. He recently dropped the NXT title to Shinsuke Nakamura and will most likely lose the rematch. RAW is crowded for when he gets a call up, but Smackdown has plenty of room for a small TNA reunion.

Where do you see Smackdown Live heading after Backlash? Tell us in the comments below.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter/Instagram @WelpThatsAThing  and tell me your thoughts as well.
I’m “The Savior” Joseph Reds for TheWrestlingClassic.com and I’m better than you.