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Smackdown’s #1 Contender Drawback
Welcome to the Cool Factors.
A champion is as attention-grabbing because the contenders they need to face and overcome. In any other case, a champion’s reign will undergo from staleness and disinterest. Dominant heel champions profit from underdog faces. Dominant face champions profit from menacing, monster heels. These are just some of the varieties of feuds we’ve seen in trendy professional wrestling.
The present state of the Friday Night time Smackdown roster is worrying. There aren’t any clear championship contenders and, what’s extra regarding, is the shortage of latest names being pushed right into a place the place they may problem the present champion, Roman Reigns. Let’s have a look at the male singles roster and assess their viability as #1 contenders. You could agree that Smackdown has a #1 contender downside.
Previous Champions
Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura, Jinder Mahal
A typical development in WWE’s championship reserving is to work from a choose pool of expertise. Their desire is seemingly to depend on previous champions, those that have already been elevated to that place on the cardboard. Consider the championship feuds we’ve seen lately: Reigns/Lesnar, Rollins/Lesnar, Rollins/Wyatt, Strowman/Wyatt, Reigns/Rollins. These are all wrestlers who’ve been fundamental eventing TV or PPV (Particular Reside Occasion) exhibits for years.
Good for WWE for having a robust pool of championship expertise, however a lot of the combos have been executed. McIntyre, Sheamus and Mahal have all had feuds towards Reigns. The one one right here that hasn’t but is Nakamura. He appears poised for a possibility, since his tag accomplice, Rik Boogs, obtained injured. That has some potential, however there was no construct at this level. Nakamura doesn’t have a lot momentum, having misplaced the Intercontinental Championship to Ricochet, and the Wrestlemania tag match towards the Usos.
If WWE had spent some extra time reserving a #1 contender for Reigns, Nakamura might be positioned in a match or a deadly 4-way between now and Backlash. A #1 contender might be established for Backlash or Hell in a Cell.
Mid to Low to No Card
Joyful Corbin, Madcap Moss, Mansoor, Mustafa Ali, Shanky, Ridge Holland, Butch
On this listing of names, we do have Corbin who beforehand fought Reigns. Apart from him, none of those guys are ready the place they’d be taken severely. Solely Corbin, Moss, Holland and Butch are presently getting constant TV time. Moss received the Andre the Large Memorial Battle Royal a number of weeks in the past, so he’s receiving a little bit of optimistic consideration. Not a severe contender for a championship but. The others are assigned to the Smackdown roster, however Ali and Mansoor haven’t wrestled for the reason that fall. Shanky had a number of appearances this yr in tag matches and battle royals. Nothing that will make me assume they’d be able to compete with the top of the household although.
Holland and Butch are getting a fairly good shine with Sheamus’ Struggle Night time crew, however Holland and Sheamus are largely wrestling within the Tag Staff Division proper now. Butch is model new to the Smackdown roster and has solely labored one TV match so far. He’s a implausible wrestler however his character has but to compel the viewers, particularly us nXt followers who know him as Pete Dunne. In that type, he could be far more plausible competitors for Reigns. But he would nonetheless want a 6-12 month push for followers to get behind him as an underdog babyface with the wrestling chops to be a champ.
Intercontinental Champions
Ricochet and Sami Zayn
There have been instances the place the Intercontinental Championship was held by the very best “wrestler” within the firm, the one who wrestled the very best matches. Successful this title was seen as a needed step earlier than continuing to the tier of world championship contenders. Many columns have been written about that golden period of Intercontinental Champions who turned World Champions. It was a logical manner of figuring out expertise, skill, and fan curiosity. If a wrestler received the Intercontinental belt and had an excellent run with it, it will assist followers to see them as championship and fundamental occasion materials.
That simply isn’t the case in 2022. Successful the Intercontinental Title doesn’t appear to steer wrestlers to be thought-about as fundamental occasion materials. The final 5 winners of the IC belt are: Ricochet (present), Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Apollo Crews and Huge E. Huge E received the IC title for the primary time in 2013. It took him 7 years to win it once more and be thought-about world champion-material. Nakamura solely received the IC title after successful the WWE Championship, which is backwards to the same old development. Zayn, Crews, and Ricochet are all very proficient wrestlers. None of them have gained fundamental occasion standing from their time as Intercontinental Champion. Ricochet would possibly get there, however the monitor report would counsel that it received’t occur.
The final #1 contender’s match befell in January on Uncooked, and it featured Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Huge E and Bobby Lashley. All of these guys have been established as fundamental eventers, and so they’ve all been world champions. A lot for constructing new expertise and overlook in regards to the Intercontinental Championship having something to do with that!
Glimmer of Chance
Gunther with Ludwig Kaiser
Gunther, previously often called WALTER, lately debuted on Smackdown. He’s a powerful expertise who had a really profitable run in nXt and nXt UK, in addition to notable matches on the indy scene. His dimension, and manner are akin to the varieties of heels who would get constructed as much as problem a face champion within the 80s and 90s. His agility and expertise are an excellent deal higher.
In six months, may we be speaking about Gunther difficult Roman Reigns for the WWE Unified Heavyweight Championship? That’s a chance.
Would WWE really e book him in a #1 contender’s match to get him there? That appears quite a bit much less seemingly. Too unhealthy. Logic, battle and rising motion are useful in creating tales. Extra character development with these components would create an honest pool of #1 contenders to select from, and never simply the identical outdated names.
COOL IT!
Listed here are a number of questions to think about from as we speak’s column:
Who’s essentially the most deserving Smackdown roster member to be the subsequent #1 contender for the WWE Unified Heavyweight Champion?
Would you wish to see extra emphasis from WWE on establishing #1 contenders for his or her world titles?
Please be a part of within the dialogue under on these questions or anything you’d wish to share. It’s also possible to comply with me on Twitter to maintain the dialog going there. A bunch of WH and LOP Boards writers are doing an All Time Fantasy Draft the place we’re drafting rosters to write down tremendous playing cards. Comply with the hashtag #ATD22 to see outcomes and take a look at this hyperlink for the draft up to now: 2022 All Time Fantasy Wrestling Draft from LOPFORUMS
Sir Sam’s workforce might look fairly robust, however if you draft RVD and Sabu earlier than the Undisputed Period and the Street Warriors, questions on in case you’re attempting to construct a worthwhile card or a bingo corridor present, needs to be requested.
Peace!
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