WWE Smackdown Live results and observations (2/21/17): No. 1 contender controversy
There was a wide range of emotions on this week's edition of Smackdown Live.
The program began on a sad note as a title reign was abruptly cut short.
But by the end of the program, fans were scratching their heads with confusion, as we still do not have a No. 1 contender to Bray Wyatt's WWE championship.
Before I go into detail as to what occurred on this episode of Smackdown Live, here are the full match results from the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif.:
- WWE Smackdown Women's championship – Alexa Bliss def. Becky Lynch
- American Alpha def. Breezango
- Falls Count Anywhere – Natalya def. Nikki Bella
- 10-man battle royal ended in a draw
Controversy surrounding No. 1 contender
The main reason to watch Smackdown Live this week was that there would be a battle royal to determine a new No. 1 contender to Wyatt's WWE championship after Randy Orton gave up his spot at the end of last week's episode.
The battle royal featured 10 men: John Cena, AJ Styles, Luke Harper, Dean Ambrose, The Miz, Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Kalisto, Dolph Ziggler and Mojo Rawley.
After a pretty entertaining contest, the match came down to Styles and Harper. The two men battled it out until Harper pulled Styles over the top rope while he was standing on the ring apron.
Styles fell to the floor, but Harper fell to the floor as well. None of the five referees at ringside were in proper position to see who fell first and chaos ensued.
Both Harper and Styles argued their case until Smackdown Live general manager Daniel Bryan went to the ring to settle the dispute. Well, he didn't settle it right then and there.
Instead, Bryan declared the match a draw and said that the No. 1 contender would be determined next week. On Talking Smack, he announced that Styles and Harper would face each other with the winner advancing to WrestleMania to face Wyatt for the WWE championship.
In theory, all of this sounds good. Smackdown Live gets to let this play out for another week leading into WrestleMania and we will be treated to what I believe will be a stellar match between Harper and Styles.
However, the execution was not good at all.
That was because it was clear that Styles hit the floor well before Harper. There were no replays needed. It was obvious upon first viewing.
No replays were needed and no replays were shown, as it would have exposed how abundantly clear it was that Styles landed first.
Styles and Harper are both pros, but they didn't properly execute here. Everyone in the arena knew, too, as they booed the situation, as the program went off the air.
Again, I liked the idea in theory. Unfortunately, it was poorly executed and it left a bad taste in people's mouths. Hopefully, Styles and Harper can make up for it with an amazing match.
Naomi relinquished the gold
My heart is still aching at the sight of Naomi having to relinquish the Smackdown Women's championship due to injury.
Apparently, her knee injury is at least somewhat serious, as it will prevent her from defending the championship within the required 30 days.
Yes, it is weird that WWE picks and chooses when to enforce the 30-day rule. I know some people will point to Lynch not having to relinquish the title when she missed No Mercy due to an undisclosed injury.
However, No Mercy took place on Oct. 9 and she was immediately scheduled to defend it on the Nov. 8 edition of Smackdown Live, so she technically didn't break the rule.
But others have, namely Brock Lesnar when he won the WWE title back at SummerSlam in 2014. He defended at Night of Champions the next month, but didn't defend it again until the Royal Rumble in January of 2015 — well after the required 30 days.
But in his specific case, WWE could say Lesnar played by his own rules. Naomi, unfortunately, does not.
Regardless of the rules WWE chooses to enforce, it is still an unfortunate set of circumstances for Naomi. Winning the Smackdown Women's title clearly meant a lot to her and it would have been cool for her to walk into WrestleMania, which is in her hometown, as the champion.
Now, we're not even sure if she'll be able to be on the show in any capacity.
Naomi expressed how much giving up the title hurt her by crying in the ring before she handed the title over to Bryan, who knows all too well about relinquishing titles due to injury.
Bliss regained the gold
When situations like this arise, it means opportunities open up for others to take advantage of.
On this night, that opportunistic person was Bliss, as she regained the Smackdown Women's championship after defeating Lynch.
The win now makes Bliss the first two-time Smackdown Women's champion.
Putting the title back on Bliss was the logical thing to do, as many thought she should not have lost it to Naomi to begin with. I was not one of the people banging the table for Bliss to keep the title, but I have no qualms with her winning it back here.
The Miz/Maryse vs. Cena/Bella is upon us
It's happening, folks.
It looks like we are well on our way to a mixed tag team match at WrestleMania with Cena and Bella going up against The Miz and Maryse.
Things are pointing in that direction after Maryse attacked Bella with a lead pipe during her match against Natalya. Maryse did that in response to Bella being tossed into her by Natalya yet again. Maryse continued the attack until The Miz dragged her away.
During the battle royal, Cena eliminated The Miz, which did not sit well with the six-time Intercontinental champion. Later in the match, The Miz re-entered the ring while the officials were preoccupied with something else and dumped Cena out of it, which counted as an elimination.
Next week, Cena will be a guest on Miz TV.
I'm on board with this feud, but how it is getting started does not make a whole lot of sense.
If you're Maryse and a person has been tossed into you not once, but twice, why would you be upset at the person that was tossed into you? Wouldn't you be upset at the person that did the tossing?
That'd be like a baseball player being angry at the baseball after it beaned him, never mind the fact that the pitcher was the one responsible for it happening to begin with.
I understand that WWE could explain Maryse's hatred for Bella in greater detail in the weeks to come, but on the surface, that makes no sense.
When it comes to Cena and The Miz, why does it make any sense that someone that has already been eliminated from a battle royal is able to jump back in the ring and toss someone out and eliminate that person?
I could see if The Miz had helped someone else eliminate Cena. He didn't do that, though. The Miz did it all by himself.
If that is the case then someone that has been eliminated from a fatal four-way should be able to jump back into the ring, pin one of the three remaining competitors in the match and have it count as an elimination.
But that doesn't happen because that wouldn't make any sense. It shouldn't make sense in battle royals either.
By the way, I thought Bella's match with Natalya was a lot of fun.