Best and worst of SmackDown Live — 11 July, 2017
San Antonio, Texas was the site for SmackDown Live this week, a show we looked at with enthusiasm, considering that Tuesday nights have traditionally been the high point of our week as professional wrestling journalists, over the previous few months.
Unfortunately, the show underdelivered, and we don’t find ourselves enthused about WWE Battleground at all. This episode almost felt like a live event, with match after match and no real progress in terms of storytelling. Let’s delve into the highs and lows of the components of this show, in our ‘Best and Worst' recap.
#1 Worst: A big opportunity lost?
We came into the show with a hot angle. AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens for the United States Championship at Madison Square Garden last Friday and was the new face of America. We understand why WWE did it...to add an air of unpredictability to Live Events and therefore, increase the attendance at such shows.
However, after watching the episode this week, we wonder if it would have made more sense to do this match at Battleground or even on this week’s SmackDown Live episode. As cool as it was to see AJ Styles and John Cena team up in the main event, it did not save the show. WWE may have missed out on capturing a very cool moment on television or pay-per-view and sharing it with their fans.