*OFFICIAL* SmackDown Discussion Thread: 7th March 2017

[Awesome]

The whirlwind struggle to determine WWE Champion Bray Wyatt’s No. 1 contender at WrestleMania will reach new heights tonight on SmackDown LIVE when Randy Orton battles AJ Styles one-on-one.

For a brief moment last Tuesday, it seemed as if the ongoing controversy surrounding the WWE Title had finally been settled. Styles overcame Luke Harper in an extremely hard-fought match and seemingly established himself as The New Face of Fear’s Show of Shows’ challenger. But that assumption literally went up in smoke when 2017 Royal Rumble Match winner Randy Orton —who had previously stated that he would not challenge Wyatt as long as he was the master and Orton the servant — suddenly declared that he was coming for the WWE Title at The Showcase of The Immortals before burning The Wyatt Family Compound to the ground!

But who ultimately has the right to challenge Bray Wyatt: the Superstar who won the Royal Rumble Match or the Superstar who won the honor after Orton refused it?

To answer that question, Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan reviewed all that happened this past week and have determined that The Viper and “The Face that Runs the Place” must go head-to-head tonight to finally establish who will take on The New Face of Fear on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

John Cena & Nikki Bella will team up in-ring for the first time on SmackDown LIVE tonight when they face off against Carmella & James Ellsworth.

The two pairs arrived at a point of conflict backstage last week when The Princess of Staten Island & Ellsworth interrupted the couple as they talked about their recent issues with The Miz & Maryse. The Cenation Leader & Fearless Nikki had no patience for the F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S tandem’s blatant disrespect and challenged them to a Mixed Tag Team Match next week.

What will it look like when Cena and Nikki team up for a historic first time in a WWE ring and will Carmella and Ellsworth have any answers for them? Find out tonight on SmackDown LIVE.

While it looks as if WWE Champion Bray Wyatt’s WrestleMania opponent may finally be decided tonight on SmackDown LIVE, the No. 1 contenders for the Intercontinental, SmackDown Women’s and SmackDown Tag Team Titles at The Showcase of the Immortals are still very much up for grabs.
 
While there is no denying that Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose has drawn the ire of Baron Corbin in recent weeks, there is no guarantee that any conflict between them will take place in an organized title match. When you consider the volatile nature of both The Lunatic Fringe and The Lone Wolf, chances are just as good that they will end up clashing in an unsanctioned brawl in some dark corner of the arena. Moreover, Corbin is not the only potential challenger to Ambrose’s title. Certainly, whoever loses this week between Randy Orton and AJ Styles could end up looking to overtake Ambrose, not to mention past adversaries like The Miz or Dolph Ziggler.

As far as two-time SmackDown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss is concerned, anything is possible. Becky Lynch continues to stand toe-to-toe with the Wicked Witch of WWE. In addition, after some questionable statements last week from Natalya, there is a strong possibly that The Queen of Hart-less may also be gunning for a title opportunity. When it comes down to it, in a time where the Women’s division is arguably stronger than it ever has ever been, any of Team Blue’s female competitors could step up to try and take Alexa’s place on top of the mountain.

SmackDown Tag Team Champions American Alpha are definitely “Ready, Willing and Gable” to take on all comers. While The Usos have set their sights on their long-standing foes, with only four SmackDown LIVEs left before WWE steps onto The Grandest Stage of Them All, you never know who will challenge Chad Gable & Jason Jordan, or if American Alpha will even have the titles when the time comes.

With so many title pictures still uncertain for The Show of Shows, one must not forget that the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal is also ready to turn WrestleMania upside-down.

Considering that The Road to WrestleMania is an opportunity for Superstars to attempt to propel themselves into main event status, who will be the first SmackDown LIVE Superstar to enter the colossal contest?

Don’t miss SmackDown LIVE, tonight.

[Awesome]

No real surprise on the outcome of the match between the team of John Cena and Nikki Bella and the team of Carmella and James Ellsworth, but I liked seeing them quickly taken out afterwards by The Miz and Maryse as well as what was said in the ring following that.

Alexa Bliss vs. Every available woman on the SmackDown roster, for the SmackDown Women's Championship? Sounds good to me and has the potential for surprises. It was also great to see Mickie James take out Alexa Bliss after the tag team match, clearly showing that she has her sights set on the title and has no problem going right through her.

I was hoping things would turn out differently, but I can't say it surprised me too much that Randy Orton got the victory in his match against AJ Styles, to make sure it will indeed be him against Bray Wyatt in a one-on-one match for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.