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Power Rankings: WWE Smackdown Live (10/12/17)

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SmackDown Live

Coming out of Hell in a Cell…I…I don’t even know. Some feuds got dragged out for no real reason, twists happened which muddies up the storyline landscape for a while and there was only one real classic match that ended in a nice respect angle on the following Smackdown (yes I’m talking the Usos and New Day). So as per usual, Power Rankings isn’t purely a “best wrestler” concept, it does try to assess overall popularity, social media attention, amount of internet chatter as well as plenty of other things. So let’s see what we’re working with for the Post-Hell in a Cell fallout:

5. AJ Styles

Still the face that runs the place, but seems to be that he was helping to elevate Baron Corbin, so his status does take a hit for this update. Losing a Triple Threat isn’t too bad, but losing clean and rather definitively on the 10/10 episode of Smackdown shows he’s most likely taking a small backseat. They could randomly interject him into the WWE Title scene, but I think that will be a slower build, possibly resulting in a Royal Rumble victory or at least a storyline that takes a few months for him to reach the WWE Title.

4. The New Day

Now this one wasn’t easy. Smackdown stories are at a weird point, a lot of the characters are caught in the wash or there’s no overwhelming feeling one way or the other about some…BUT, New Day has been killing it with The Usos and that much everyone agrees on. Be it Hell in a Cell, new underwear, or popping themselves for the Fashion Police, they are a fantastically over team that has really come into their own last 2 years. Now they may take some time to help validate the other tag teams on Smackdown, but their place at the top of the current division is hard to argue.

3. Jinder Mahal

This has kind of become his spot. His matches are never anything to write home about, they always end with some kind of interference or shenanigans, but he’s being booked strong. People will complain that he’s hurting Live attendance, but the internet doesn’t keep his name out of their mouths and the TV viewership is still holding steady. So he’s doing something, sortuv right, maybe, a little…yeah? But he’s still the champion, he’s moving merchandise even if it’s ironically…so…he’s still a top 5 talent on Smackdown.

2. Kevin Owens

The cell match left a few people saying “What the hell was that”? He had a great match with Shane, and even if a little confusing, bringing Sami Zayn into the angle just helps to move this along. We could see this turn into family warfare, with Zayn calling Owens his brother, that could be foreshadowing that Triple H is coming to help Shane. Even if it’s not a top talent main event storyline, Owens is in one of the most intriguing stories going along now.

Credit: WWE.com

1. The Usos

These guys came out of Hell in a Cell looking like a million bucks. So much hype surrounded the match, and it exceeded most expectations. Now, they seem to be on a face turn since they respect the New Day, but this new angle is too new to start anticipating direction. As long as the Usos help elevate the Tag Division and don’t just stomp everyone not named New Day, this could be very healthy for Smackdown. Plus, after the pay-per-view match, people were running through social media trying to crown the Usos as one of the greatest tag teams of all time.

— so the hype is real, let’s see if they can continue to run with this momentum.


In previous iterations, there were stronger singles storylines coming out of the PPVs. Orton’s struggles with Jinder, Nakamura moving up in the card, but now they’re in story limbo. Perhaps it’s a little overdue for this to be New Day‘s debut on Power Rankings, but the singles stories always seemed to overshadow the tag division, until now.

Survivor Series is the next Pay-Per-View that Smackdown builds toward, so there should be plenty of time to build through the talent and hopefully give us something better to work with next Power Rankings update.

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Opinion

Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE

Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.

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Wyatt Sicks WWE

Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.

It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions, 

The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight. 

This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail. 

The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions. 

After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama

gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania. 

It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company. 

We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!

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Opinion

Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?

Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns 

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WWE Jacob Fatu Roman Reigns Backlash

Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call. 

Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story. 

The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line. 

 In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years? 

Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus. 

I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?

Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!

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