Powell’s WWE Smackdown Hit List: Sami Zayn vs. Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship, Roman Reigns teases the highest stakes for a match in WWE history, AJ Styles vs. Jey Uso, Alexa Bliss on The KO Show

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

WWE Smackdown Hits

Roman Reigns and Jey Uso: A strong opening segment with Reigns continuing to be far more compelling as a heel than he ever was as a babyface. The heel logic of the WWE Universal Champion is interesting. Reigns told Jey that he loves him, yet he demands the respect of being acknowledged as the Tribal Chief. I continue to wonder if this eventually leads to Usos joining Reigns. The tease for the stipulations of their rematch being the biggest in WWE history definitely has my interest.

Jey Uso vs. AJ Styles: Uso needs credibility building wins heading into the rematch with Reigns. Beating Styles should be step one in a series of television wins for Uso between now and the pay-per-view. With several losses lately and Paul Heyman now on Smackdown, will Styles be moving back to Mondays via the WWE Draft?

Sami Zayn vs. Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship: I wasn’t a big fan of the exposed turnbuckle finish when the referee could have addressed it early in the match. On the bright side, the finish protected Hardy while giving Zayn another cheap win. I just wish they could have been more creative with how they got to it. Ultimately, though, this was a well worked and entertaining match.

The KO Show with Alexa Bliss: Will The Fiend attacking Owens set up more than a match for next week? Could this be a post draft feud. It would be interesting if they tied in the Aleister Black turn by making him part of The Fiend’s act. Black shouldn’t need to be a sidekick, but creative hasn’t gotten it right with him since he left NXT, so I’m open to the idea. Either way, they finally forwarded the story with Bliss officially joining Wyatt and I am curious to see where they go next.

Carmella: It was time for a change. The makeover to the “Untouchable” persona is complete and it will be fun to see how it goes once she returns to the ring.

WWE Smackdown Misses

Shamus vs. Shorty G: His name is Shorty G. Seriously, his name is Shorty G. No, really, this poor man’s name is Shorty G. Chad Gable is a helluva wrestler, but he’s doomed to fail with his terrible gimmick. Did I mention that his f’n name is Shorty G?

John Morrison vs. Otis: Was this the usual oddball move of booking a wrestler to lose in dominant fashion because he’s leaving the brand via the draft? This was logical during the territory days. It makes no sense when the Raw and Smackdown brands both fall under the WWE umbrella.