WWE Smackdown Live results and observations (8/29/17): 'The Viper' RKO'd 'The Artist'

While Raw is revving up for No Mercy, Smackdown Live continued to plot along Tuesday without a pay-per-view of its own to worry about for the time being.

Smackdown Live not having a pay-per-view to worry about would ideally mean that the blue brand would be building its storylines slowly, but what it really means is that there are going to be a lot of pay-per-view-worthy matches that are going to be given away on television over the next couple of weeks.

This week's Smackdown Live did not deliver anything worthy of being on a pay-per-view, but it did set the table for what is to come from the blue brand.

Here are the full match results from the Verizon Arena in Little Rock, Ark.:

- Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin def. The Ascension

- WWE United States championship – AJ Styles def. Tye Dillinger

- Bobby Roode def. Mike Kanellis

- The Usos def. The New Day

- Tamina def. Tina Stock

- Shinsuke Nakamura & Randy Orton def. Jinder Mahal & Rusev

Orton to face Nakamura next week

The main-event scene on Smackdown Live received an interesting wrinkle this week, as it was announced that Nakamura and Orton are set to go at it next week to determine the next No. 1 contender to Mahal's WWE championship.

Never mind the fact that both men are currently babyfaces, this matchup is intriguing simply because of each man's in-ring style. I am curious to see just how Nakamura and Orton mesh together in the ring.

I'm honestly not sure how this match will turn out. It could exceed my expectations and tear the house down, but if Orton's other big matches this year are any indication, it probably won't do any of that.

I'll just say that I am not expecting Nakamura to have a stellar outing with Orton like he did with Cena before SummerSlam. Hopefully, Nakamura and Orton prove me wrong.

From a storyline standpoint, there was some heat added to next week's contest after this week's main event was over.

In said main event, Nakamura and Orton defeated Mahal and Rusev, which was not all that surprising.

What was surprising was that Orton hit the RKO — from outta nowhere — on Nakamura, adding some hostility between the two men heading into next week.

Owens, Zayn to renew hostilities?

Speaking of hostility, no feud has more of it in WWE than the one between Zayn and Owens. I mean this rivalry is just a step below cats versus dogs or the Hatfields versus the McCoys.

The latest chapter in the long-running feud took place Tuesday, when Owens complained about losing his chance at the United States title last week.

Before complaining, Owens politely asked English to leave the ring. Eventually, Smackdown Live commissioner Shane McMahon essentially told Owens to stop whining and step out of the ring so that English could have his match against Zayn.

Zayn then came out and had a match with English while Owens sat in on commentary at ringside.

Owens was beside himself on the microphone and eventually deemed the referee's performance in the Zayn-English match to be unsatisfactory and decided to take matters into his own hands.

Owens then jumped into the ring and took the referee's shirt off and put it on, making himself the referee. Owens did not take long to show why he was in there, which was to hurt Zayn.

Owens hit Zayn with the pop-up power bomb and told English to cover his battered opponent. English gleefully obliged and Owens dove onto the mat to count to three.

Although the bell rang and English was even announced as the winner, McMahon said backstage that the match did not count and that the result was going to be stricken from the record books, which makes sense.

Owens is not an official or a WWE executive like McMahon, so why would the match have counted?

Regardless of the match's outcome, it essentially told everyone that we are probably going to get another encounter between Owens and Zayn. It would not surprise me if the two faced each other next week on Smackdown Live.

I have advocated for keeping Owens and Zayn as far away from each other as possible since the brand extension started last summer, but I have to admit that WWE has done a good job of keeping them away from each other despite them being on the same brand for the duration of the brand extension thus far.

Baron Corbin attempted to thwart Dillinger

Styles re-opened the United States open challenge and Dillinger answered it.

However, Corbin was not happy about this, as he told Renee Young before the open challenge was issued that he was going to answer it.

When Dillinger beat him to the punch, Corbin showcased his frustration by attacking Dillinger on his way to the ring.

Dillinger eventually fended off Corbin long enough to jump into the ring and officially answer Styles' challenge.

Styles and Dillinger had a quick but entertaining match Tuesday, but it was clear that Corbin versus Styles is what WWE is really looking to do in the near future.

Natalya is a busy woman

Being busy is to be expected when you are the Smackdown Women's champion, but Natalya has a lot more on her plate than even she expected.

First, she revealed a new shirt made after her pet cat that looks as ridiculous as it sounds.

But during Smackdown Live, Natalya was informed that she will be facing Carmella next week and will be defending her title against Naomi the week after that.

As they say, life comes at you fast.

The Usos beat The New Day … again

I know I said that I could watch The Usos and The New Day go at it every week, but I didn't think WWE was going to take me so seriously, as we got another encounter between the two teams Tuesday night.

The New Day and The Usos are fun to watch, but them having to face each other every week only shines more of a light on the lack of depth in Smackdown Live's tag team division.

To be frank, it is almost non-existent.

This week's match between the two teams was to determine which team would get to choose the stipulation for their next match for the Smackdown Tag Team titles.

Yes, they will face each other yet again due to New Day's rematch clause.

The Usos won, which means they will get to choose the stipulation.

As far as Xavier Woods, he wore a sign around his neck that said, "It's sore," which was in reference to his left knee, which he injured during a live event Monday night.

Fortunately, Woods' only suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament. After what happened to Big Cass (torn anterior cruciate ligament) last week, Woods is probably breather a series of sighs of relief after that diagnosis.

Gable, Benjamin had a successful debut

I don't expect this tandem to last long, but Gable and Benjamin had a successful debut Tuesday against the Ascension.

Benjamin shoved Gable out of the way at one point, but they got along long enough to pick up the win.

As for how Benjamin looked, he hasn't missed a beat. To his credit, Benjamin stayed busy in wrestling in years away from WWE, but he probably used much of the last year nursing his injured shoulder.

Tamina debuts new persona

That's actually a joke because it wasn't really a new persona. It was actually much of the same except with Lana shouting at her as if it was Rusev circa 2015.

After Tamina picked up the easy victory, two photographers jumped into the and began snapping photos in a somewhat bizarre scene.

I'm just going to reserve judgment on this.

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