3 interesting observations from this week's SmackDown Live (January 22, 2019)
From Rey Mysterio and Andrade displaying their excellent in-ring chemistry, to Randy Orton standing tall at the end of the show, this week's edition of WWE SmackDown Live (22 January 2019) featured a lot of contrasting moments indeed.
Just like this week's RAW, SmackDown Live felt less grand than previous episodes in recent memory. The plot points were covered for feuds that mattered the most, and even if it wasn't a bad episode as a whole, one would expect the show to be more newsworthy, given the fact that the Royal Rumble takes place this Sunday.
With that said, lets take a look at some interesting observations you may have missed during this week's edition of SmackDown Live.
#3 What happened to the US title feud?
One would expect things to kick into full-gear since the Royal Rumble Pay Per View is taking place this Sunday.
Unfortunately, the United States Championship scenario seems to be at the bottom of the list of WWE's priorities. Neither men, Shinsuke Nakamura or Rusev, were featured on the show last night.
What makes things even worse is that later on WWE announced that Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura would battle it out for the title on the kickoff show at the Royal Rumble. The title's relevancy is not what it used to be.
This also shows that handing the championship to a popular superstar does not yield magical results if the writers don't put effort when it comes to US title feuds in general.
What do you think about Rusev and Shinsuke Nakamura being snubbed off a main card match-up at the Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View, let alone a go-home segment before the big event itself?