The landscape of Smackdown Live has dramatically changed since the February 12 Elimination Chamber PPV, at least as far as the World and Women’s Championships are concerned.
While the event was the final PPV stop before the Grandest Stage of them all reaches its final destination of Orlando, Florida, the twists and turn of the Road To WrestleMania have not let up for a single second.
In this brand new edition of Golden Legacy, we take a look at where the four reigning champions of the blue brand stand and where their destinies may lie en route to the Sunshine state.
The WWE World Championship
Current Champion: Bray Wyatt
Date Won: February 12, 2017
Event: Elimination Chamber ’17
Won From:John Cena, AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Baron Corbin, and The Miz in an Elimination Chamber match
Days Held: 10 days
Successful Defenses: 1
Current Ranking: The 157th longest reign in company history
Notable Title Defenses:
The Breakdown:
From the very moment Bray Wyatt preached his message for the very first time in Florida Championship Wrestling, people took notice. The Eater of Worlds foretold a destination that would see him reign upon a mountain he forged with the fears and suffering of everyone who did not walk alongside him. Anyone who dismissed these warnings came to regret them almost instantly.
While to some he speaks in circles and riddles, there is no denying he has backed up a good majority of his haunting words. He entranced monsters such as Eli Cottonwood, Erick Rowan, Luke Harper, and Braun Strowman to be his brothers in arms. Each one carried out his biddings with sinister glee, the only mission being to be the evil that walked among men in daylight.
While there have been setbacks and crushing defeats along the way, the Bray Wyatt that currently rules Smackdown Live as the WWE World Champion is the most dangerous man to step between the ropes. At the Elimination Chamber he pinned reigning champion John Cena and AJ Styles in succession to finally capture the one thing that cemented him as a force to reckon with and fear. Proving that monumental victory wasn’t a mere fluke, two days later he went on to defeat Styles and Cena in a bruising Triple Threat Match, once again dispatching of Cena with Sister Abigail.
As of all that wasn’t frightening enough, it was the final moments of that fateful 2/14 edition of the show that sent shockwaves throughout the wrestling world. Once a born leader and a man who answered to no one, Randy Orton knelt at his leader’s feet and declared he would not parlay his Royal Rumble victory into a championship match against Wyatt at WrestleMania.
With the biggest show of the year not too far off, Wyatt is front and center of Smackdown Live, just as a World Champion should be.
There is a renewed energy not only coming from the man himself but his fireflies in the WWE Universe that have never wavered in their support of the cause. How could someone so powerful and brilliant ever be toppled? We may find out sooner than believed.
When The Wyatts captured the Smackdown World Tag Team Championships, they seemed to be an unbeatable trio and would dominate the tag team division for as long as they pleased. Yet it took one miscommunication between Randy Orton and Luke Harper for their reign of terror to end after only 22 days at the hands of American Alpha.
Bray would eventually cast Harper out of the Family but unlike in 2014 when he set him free, the decision to dismiss his most loyal disciple could prove to be his downfall. Harper tied with AJ Styles in a #1 Contenders Battle Royal on the 2/21 edition of Smackdown Live and the two will meet next week to settle the issue. Should the former Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion emerge victorious, it will be a moment almost thought to be impossible. Harper, now fully broken from Bray’s spell, would go onto to WrestleMania and make his first World Title bid with the entire world watching.
But the story wouldn’t end there.
For the briefest of moments, Orton took a glance at the gold around Bray’s shoulders at the end of that episode. Could the desire for his own brand of supremacy still burn within the Viper’s soul?
Whoever winds up walking down the ramp in Orlando will still be starting across the ring into the eyes of a deadly entity. Bray Wyatt has always thought ten steps ahead of everyone else and I don’t expect this to be any different. What will be fascinating to watch unfold is if the man with the world in his hands will be crushed should it all collapse onto him.
Ironically, it could be Wyatt who should run.
Smackdown Women’s Champion
Current Champion: Alexa Bliss
Date Won: February 21, 2017
Previous Reign: December 18, 2016 to February 12, 2017
Length: 69 days
Ranking: Tied with Eve’s first Divas Championship reign for 55th longest
The Breakdown
From Blissed off to Blissful joy, Alexa Bliss is right back where she feels she belongs. Hopefully she learned her lesson about taking opponents too lightly; thus far it doesn’t appear to be the case.
For two weeks Bliss tried to tear down the spirit of Naomi, labeling her as a forgettable face in a sea of faces, none of whom are on her level. However just as she did at No Mercy, Naomi silenced Bliss with several pinfall victories. Two pinfall wins over the champion culminated in a life long dream being realized. At Elimination Chamber, Naomi won her first Women’s Championship to Bliss’s dismay.
Sadly, dreams often convert into nightmares.
This was the case on the 2/21 edition of Smackdown Live where the injury Naomi suffered in the closing moments of her title win resulted in having to forfeit the title in an emotional moment. Her reign lasted only 9 days (the 93rd longest ever).
Bliss seized the opportunity to express glee in her rival’s misfortune, adding salt to the wound when she defeated Becky Lynch in a match to determine a new champion.
Alexa has become a standout of the entire SD Live roster and many credit her as their favorite part of the show. With the title back around her waist, she will no doubt pick up where she left off and bask in the spotlight as we near WrestleMania. Her appearances on Talking Smack are also a highlight as she isn’t shy about voicing her opinions and views on the evolving landscape of the women’s division. She found her bravado and won’t pass up any chance to put it on full display. It is a key element in her ability to be the focal point of a talented field.
There is no rest for the weary however when it comes to being a champion.
Lynch isn’t going to give up her chase to claim her own second reign as Women’s Champion. That Bliss used an illegal shot to the throat to set up her victory will only add fuel to the straight fire of the Irish Lass Kicker.
Natalya has seemingly won her feud with Nikki Bella and has long sought to reestablish herself as THE woman to beat. She hasn’t tasted gold in six years, something that is a definite piece of motivation.
The wild card is Mickie James. For now she seems content in aiding Bliss to ensure she holds onto the title as well as standing in Lynch’s way. But how long will she be able to keep her obvious competitive spirit under wraps? If she were to challenge Bliss, it would set up something pretty big for both women. A story of one woman looking to reignite her championship legacy and another looking to add a key piece to hers.
The Intercontinental Championship
Current Champion: Dean Ambrose
Reign: 2nd
Date Won: 1/3/17
Event: Smackdown Live
Won From: The Miz
Days held: 51
Successful defenses: 22
Current Ranking: Tied with Ezekiel Jackson for the 86th longest
Previous Reign: December 1, 2015 to February 15, 2016
Length: 64 days
Ranking: Tied with Christian’s fourth reign for the 69th longest
Notable Defenses:
The Breakdown
Since capturing his second IC Title, The Lunatic Fringe has definitely kept busy and has been highly visible on multiple events of late.
The Miz and Maryse looked to make things personal by involving Ambrose’s significant other Renee Young but it only fueled his rage. Miz came up short in their Lumberjack return match before moving on to other issues. Ambrose would enter the Royal Rumble only to be eliminated by old rival Brock Lesnar.
It wasn’t until Elimination Chamber that he encountered a deadly threat to his championship.
He eliminated Baron Corbin inside the Chamber which set off a chain reaction that is currently ongoing. An enraged Corbin destroyed the IC Champion making him easy prey for The Miz to eliminate.
The following Smackdown Live Ambrose went looking for The Lone Wolf and was set for a little aggression detour against James Ellsworth. Corbin had other plans and assaulted Ambrose a second time backstage.
Dragging him into the arena, the two brawled ending with Corbin sending Ambrose flying onto electrical equipment with a Deep Six.
On the 2/21 edition of Smackdown Live, Ambrose gained a measure of revenge by eliminating Corbin from the #1 Contenders Battle Royal; seconds later Corbin dashed Ambrose’s own WrestleMania dreams with a brutal End of Days on the arena floor.
This sets up a pretty high profile rivalry for both men.
Corbin has been dead set on gaining gold and headlining every show he’s on and an IC Title reign could catapult him into that spotlight after previous runs at the World Title slipped out of his hands. Meanwhile, Ambrose takes great pride in being IC Champion and, as we have seen over the years, he just loves to fight whoever they put in front of him.
Personality wise, it’s also a great match up. Two men who march to their own drums and don’t fear anything. One will eventually blink though and it will be fun seeing who that ends up being.
A clear cut challenger and consistent presence and attention will only continue to raise the stock of Ambrose, Corbin, and most importantly the Intercontinental Championship.
Smackdown Tag Team Championships
Current Champions: American Alpha, Chad Gable and Jason Jordan
Date Won: 12/27/16
Notable Defenses:
The Breakdown
It’s taken longer than anyone may have imagined, but of late Jason Jordan and Chad Gable have been gaining traction by the week nearly two months into their run as the kingpins of Smackdown Live‘s tag team division. The issue at hand isn’t their talent…far from it. Both have maintained the same level of effortless ability and intensity that led them to great success in NXT. Rather, the entire tag team division on the blue brand is under reconstruction and it will take time to get audiences invested in tandems they were previously programmed to dismiss as credible threats.
That process led to Alpha being absent from the Royal Rumble; not only did they not have a title defense but neither Jordan nor Gable were Rumble match participants. It should go without saying neither were too thrilled about that.
Taking matters into their own hands, the champions issued an open challenge on the post-Rumble edition of SD Live to any team on the roster. When every team available accepted, GM Daniel Bryan put them all in a Tag Team Turmoil match for Elimination Chamber.
At the Chamber, several duos had impressive showings including former champions Heath Slater and Rhyno and The Ascension. The latter were coming off their first victory since last September on the SD Live that preceded the PPV in a 12 man tag team match and were out to remind everyone they weren’t to be taken lightly.
Yet in spite of an attack from the bitter and angry Usos, Alpha survived the onslaught of Konnor and Viktor to retain their titles in impressive fashion.
Jimmy and Jey haven’t gone away however. In successive weeks after Alpha have defeated The Ascension and Breezango in non-title matches, the former two time tag team champions haven’t been subtle in letting the world know they are gunning for a third run on top. It is a plus that Alpha have a layered story to work with against a well oiled machine like The Usos. Their issues from last Fall have never been fully resolved which gives all involved something to sink their teeth into.
Beyond that, the future of Alpha as a key fixture on Smackdown Live will depend on a few things.
One is a steady stream of opponents to work with. Whether or not they hang onto the gold against The Usos, they will need other credible teams to square off against. Otherwise they risk floating around aimlessly like Slater and Rhyno have since their title loss.
The other is continued development of their personas and time to talk. This is where Talking Smack has been proven to be invaluable. Even when Jordan and Gable aren’t given time to speak on SD Live, they are regular guests on the post-show alongside Bryan and Renee Young. There they are able to convey what their thoughts and goals are, making it much easier for people to connect with them.
It’s been a slow, steady process in getting to the popularity level they enjoyed in NXT but I think in the long-run, they will hit the heights they are fully capable of. They are too special and talented not to.
That wraps up this edition of Golden Legacy. In our next edition, we will look at Raw‘s five champions coming out of Fastlane!
