WWE Smackdown Live results and observations (6/20/17): Withdrawal from the bank

In the immortal words of Desi Arnaz, Smackdown Live had some 'splainin' to do after what went down at Money in the Bank this past weekend.

Smackdown Live's explanation did not disappoint when it came to getting the fans talking, but was all of the talk positive?

Before I give my thoughts, here are the match results from the Wright State University Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio:

- Big E def. Jimmy Uso

- Shinsuke Nakamura def. Dolph Ziggler

- WWE United States championship – Kevin Owens def. Chad Gable

- Jinder Mahal def. Luke Harper

Withdrawal from the bank

WWE is apparently not too keen on doing things the nice, simple and easy way.

The company would much rather do things the difficult, rigid and awkward way.

Why? I suppose to generate some buzz or do something that hasn't been done before. Those aren't necessarily bad reasons for WWE to do the things it does, but those reasons sometimes get in the way of quality.

A prime example is the kerfuffle surrounding the women's Money in the Bank ladder match and its winner, Carmella.

As you may recall, Carmella won the first-ever women's Money in the Bank ladder match, but did so after her second, James Ellsworth, climbed the ladder for her and retrieved the briefcase before dropping it into her waiting arms.

This not only caused the fans to get up in arms in real life because a man grabbed the briefcase in the first women's Money in the Bank ladder match, but it also caused the women involved in the match to be outraged about the outcome within the framework of the story, as Ellsworth wasn't technically part of the match.

Despite the craziness surrounding the match, it looked like WWE was going to own what it did when it had Carmella open the show and cut this what was easily the best promo of her career, where she unapologetically claimed that it didn't matter how she won the briefcase. The fact was that she had it and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Apparently, there was one person that could do something about it, and that was Smackdown Live general manager Daniel Bryan, who returned to television this week after taking time away to be with his newborn daughter.

Bryan "rectified" the situation by stripping Carmella of the Money in the Bank briefcase and put it back up for grabs in another ladder match that will take place next week. On Talking Smack, Bryan even banned Ellsworth from ringside.

By doing this, not only did WWE put fans in a position to feel bad for Carmella, but it also muddled a situation that could have run its course a lot smoother.

For one, WWE should have just gone with a normal finish at the pay-per-view. I still stand by that, but if it was going to have Carmella essentially ascend to the top heel spot in the women's division by winning the briefcase by nefarious means, WWE should have let her run with it.

Carmella opened the show with a fantastic promo that even got me on board with WWE's decision from the pay-per-view, but it washed all of that away by the end of the show.

This felt like a circumstance where WWE should either poop or get off the pot and WWE chose to do neither. Instead, it is just sitting on the toilet doing nothing at all.

With all of that said, there are some positives to take away from this. Firstly, the women get a chance to redeem WWE's mishap from the pay-per-view. Secondly, we may finally get the moment of a woman properly pulling down that briefcase.

I know that won't quite makeup for it not happening at the pay-per-view, but it is better than nothing.

And lastly, next week's episode of Smackdown Live could have the chance to be pretty historic, as there is also another Smackdown Women's title match between Naomi and Lana scheduled for the show as well.

I would not be surprised to see a cash-in after the title bout.

Randy Orton isn't done with Jinder Mahal

Orton took a page out of Braun Strowman's playbook by making it clear that he is not done with Mahal just yet.

Orton even showed as much at the end of the night when he attacked the WWE champion and the Singh Brothers.

Orton not being done with Mahal is clearly pointing to yet another encounter between the two in the near future, which obviously makes no sense given that Orton has no right to another title match.

But this is WWE, and not everything has to make sense apparently.

Chad Gable still exists, not sure about Jason Jordan though

The good news is that Gable is still healthy and is able to wrestle on Smackdown Live.

The bad news is that we are still unaware of the whereabouts of his tag team partner and Smackdown Live has still done a horrendous job of using American Alpha since they landed on the main roster last summer.

But at least Gable got some time to shine when he answered Owens' Face of America Challenge Tuesday night.

Owens issued the challenge to anyone from Dayton, but non-Dayton native AJ Styles answered the challenge. Owens quickly denied Styles because he is from Georgia, not Ohio.

That then brought out Gable, who claimed he had just moved to Dayton Tuesday morning. He even gave his address of 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway.

Gable was obviously lying through his teeth and the address he gave was to Wright State University. I mean, Gable could be living on a college campus, but I would bet against that.

Humor aside, Gable had a very good showing against Owens, which only made me wonder why Smackdown Live has yet to find something for Gable and Jordan to do on a consistent basis.

The physical talent is obvious and they have charisma to match. It is borderline criminal that Smackdown Live seemingly has eyes for everyone else on its roster but American Alpha.

Vaughn Johnson has a podcast with Nick Piccone called the Straight Shooters on WildfireRadio.com. Check it out here HERE.