WWE SmackDown Live Preview: December 19, 2017
Clash of Champions is in the books and the focus now shifts to the Royal Rumble. The second biggest PPV of the WWE calendar ought to have a strong card and the seeds of it will be sown on tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown.
The historic Women's Royal Rumble match coupled Brock Lesnar's triple threat title defence against Kane and Braun Strowman has set the ball rolling and the fallout SmackDown episode for Clash of Champions will continue to have drastic implications on the Rumble card.
Who will be AJ Styles' next opponent? What's next in the Daniel Bryan-Shane McMahon saga? Are Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn on course for a major Royal Rumble programme?
A host of burning questions cramped up in two hours of what promises to be an eventful episode, here are the five noteworthy points heading into tonight's show:
#1 Shutdown of the Uso Penitentiary?
The Usos improved on their knack of putting on quality tag team title matches with another barnburner of a bout at Clash of Champions.
One of the surprise matches of the night saw the champs successfully defend the title against two other teams, and Eddie Guererro's son-in-law, Aiden English, and the legendary Rusev.
A raucous Boston crowd celebrated Rusev Day in all its glory, so much so that the story of the match focussed on Rusev and Aiden English coming painstakingly close to pulling off a major upset.
It's a shame that their deserved title shot has been given to Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin, who will be entering the Uso Penitentiary tonight in a bid to win the titles. Will The Gold Standard win his first championship in over 7 years? Will WWE capitalise on Rusev and Aiden English's dynamic and have them play a major role in the match? We better hope the WWE Creative is listening too.