RAW & SmackDown Live Move In New Directions Following SummerSlam

Smackdown Live! successfully moved in some fresh directions as well, while continuing what has become a simmering feud.

Samoa Joe and A.J. Styles simply put on a show at SummerSlam and this feud is only going to get larger. This might be Joe’s chance to finally take the next step in his career and move from best of the upper-midcard to top tier status. Attacks on an opponent’s family is a tried and true heel tactic, but somehow Joe has taken it to another level and Styles makes it feel very real.

Elsewhere on Tuesday nights, Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton has been built perfectly and is really solid. Both guys are electric performers and can really work at an incredible pace. Hopefully we get a few matches between them. Orton could easily parlay this back into the title picture by Royal Rumble.

The Miz and Daniel Bryan continues to burn bright. They had an incredible match at SummerSlam and should continue to be red hot. Hopefully, the writers get creative, because it is clear the ultimate payoff for this should be at WrestleMania. This feud could main event the biggest show of the year. Don’t really think it will, but it could and it would be huge with an amazingly alive crowd.

The New Day back on top of the tag division is fun, though it is upsetting that it is at the expense of a Bludgeon Brothers injury. Luke Harper and Eric Rowan are very solid big men and both could work in singles. Harper has enough “it” power to make a serious run in the singles rank if packaged right. He is a very smart performer and is very well spoken. With the right push, he could be very solid.

And that brings us to the women’s division for the blue brand. One of the miscalculations of SummerSlam was thinking that Becky Lynch could be turned heel. Having her attack Charlotte Flair after losing her title shot made perfect sense and the crowd was behind it. Watching Lynch give that awkward promo on Tuesday where she attempted to turn on the WWE Universe and the Universe simply said, “Nope, we are still behind you,” was very tough.

Charlotte is a natural heel. She thrives in the role and as long as the two feud Lynch cannot be a heel. It won’t work.

That aside, these two do incredible ring work and are compelling any time they are on screen. It will be very interesting to see if the writing team tries to force the Lynch issue or lets this go a little more organically.

RAW Top 10:

1. Roman Reigns
2. Ronda Rousey
3. Seth Rollins
4. Dean Ambrose
5. Braun Strowman
6. Finn Balor
7. Bobby Lashley
8. Elias
9. The B-Team
10. Baron Corbin

Smackdown Live Top 10:

1. AJ Styles
2. Samoa Joe
3. The Miz
4. Daniel Bryan
5. The New Day
6. Charlotte Flair
7. Randy Orton
8. Jeff Hardy
9. Becky Lynch
10. Shinsuke Nakamura

Overall Top 5

1. Roman Reigns
2. AJ Styles
3. Ronda Rousey
4. Samoa Joe
5. The Miz

Related: “Samoa Joe: The Samoan Stagnant Machine” by Geoff Rowland