united

Predicting the Next Three United States Champions

AJ Styles just defeated Kevin Owens to become a two-time WWE United States Champion. With Styles looking to begin an open challenge, he will have many fresh challengers. One of these challengers will eventually dethrone Styles. Someone will dethrone the one who dethroned Styles. So on and so forth.

Who will be the next person to hold United States gold? Who will become a champion soon? Only time will tell, but here are some bold predictions. Who will become a United States champion before 2017 ends?

3. Kevin Owens

Styles is supposed to defend his championship next week on Smackdown. Given WWE’s recent fascination with nonsensical booking decisions, expect Owens to regain the title and become a four-time US Champion.

The match, if it’s anything like their last few matches, will be a mostly okay match. It will be good for a TV match. Eventually, though, some weird booking decision will work in Kevin Owens’ favor. Maybe the referee won’t see a weapon shot, or won’t see a rope break. Maybe Kevin Owens will pick up the whole announce table and hit AJ with it and the referee won’t know if he should disqualify Owens. At the end of a hard-fought match, though, Owens will walk away with the gold.

The next week, he’ll cut a promo saying he’s hosting an open challenge. Styles will answer, and Owens will deny him. Either Daniel Bryan or Shane McMahon will book  the match for the following week, because ratings or something. Whatever. Styles will get his rematch.

What will happen after Styles gets his rematch? It’s easy.

2. AJ Styles

At the rematch, AJ Styles will channel the strength of his home state of Georgia. With the weight of 10 million people squarely on his shoulders, Styles will vanquish that dastardly Canadian Kevin Owens and become a three-time United States champion. Ideally, the match would be a no holds barred street fight. The Atlanta Falcons will all be at ringside (despite the show being held in Providence, Rhode Island), and they’ll all attack Kevin Owens. Then the Montreal Canadiens will show up and attack the Falcons. Styles will then perform a Styles Clash to Kevin Owens off the top rope, outside the ring, and onto both teams, who are conveniently brawling near the turnbuckle. Amidst all the strewn bodies at ringside, Styles will roll Owens’ lifeless body into the ring and get the three-count.

Next week, AJ will announce that he’s holding an Open Challenge. John Cena will answer, because reasons. Kevin Owens will also appear, along with Jinder Mahal. They’ll have a tag team match, and Owens will face Styles at Summerslam for the United States Championship.

What happens at Summerslam? I think you know.

1. Kevin Owens

At Summerslam, Kevin Owens will defeat AJ Styles in a 60-minute 6-pack Iron Man Elimination match that will also feature Sami Zayn, Tye Dillinger, Aiden English, and Mike Kannelis. Owens will eliminate Styles by fighting with the weight of 35 million people on his shoulders. Styles will be fighting with the weight of 323 million people on his shoulders, but since his burden is heavier, Owens capitalizes on that and wins.

Owens will once again proclaim that he will be hosting an open challenge. Styles will demand a match, but Owens will deny him, saying he’s fought him too many times. Styles moves to the back of the line, and Kevin Owens faces new challengers.

Kevin Owens will then hold on to the United States Championship for the rest of his career. He’ll retire 10 years later, still the United States champion. At his last ever match, it will be for the championship. The match will end in a DQ, and Owens gets to retire with the title, forever the New Face of America.

Looking at the Best Possible Outcomes for Battleground

Battleground is nearly upon us. After Sunday, plans will be set into motion. Summerslam depends entirely on what happens at Battleground. Will Baron Corbin be the next to fall to Shinsuke Nakamura? Will the New Day finally become Tag Team Champions? Who will be Naomi’s opponent at Summerslam?

With that in mind, who needs to win this Sunday? Which victories would be ideal? Who will affect Summerslam in the best possible way? We’re going to find out.

Rusev v. John Cena

First off, allow me to say this. This feud is so backwards and unnecessary that it’s almost funny. Do Smackdown really want two of their top stars to fight some anti-American foreigners? Apparently so.

Rusev is capable of so much more than just “I hate America, you fatties.” Cena can cut better promos when he’s not talking about “the flag represents all of us!” I don’t care that they’re fighting again. It’s just that the feud is straight out of the ’80s. All it needs are some prayers and vitamins and the Hulkster could do it. Not good.

I firmly believe that if anyone is to walk away from this victorious, it should be Rusev. Cena’s established; feeding everyone to someone for 10 years straight will do that. Cena can lose. Rusev’s coming back from an injury.

It’s not even a standard match; Cena doesn’t need to eat a pin. Have Rusev back over him with a truck or handcuff him to the ropes or something. Just let Rusev win. If Rusev loses, where does he go from there? Nowhere. A victory will give him a little nudge up the card.

Kevin Owens v. AJ Styles

At Battleground, AJ Styles and Kevin Owens will once again lock horns over the United States Championship. Owens lost the title at a live event in Madison Square Garden, and he hopes to reclaim it. Styles hopes to hold onto the championship for some time.

While many are clamoring for Styles to move back into the WWE title picture, I would like to see him have a meaningful run with the US title. He plans on hosting an Open Challenge, and it would be interesting to see less-utilized guys have a chance to wrestle with him. Styles can make anyone look good, so this Open Challenge should be a great idea.

As for Owens, I’m not quite sure where he would go from here, but he always makes his way back. He lost his first ever feud on the main roster. As Universal Champion, he was a complete joke. But he recovered. He always does. Him losing to Styles will not be the end of his career.

Randy Orton v. Jinder Mahal

While many view the result of this match as a “rock and hard place” scenario, I don’t think it is. There is only one preferable outcome to the Punjabi Prison match. Orton needs to regain his championship.

The Jinder experiment has run its course. Mahal’s been cutting the same weaksauce promos for 8 weeks now. People have stopped caring about the WWE Championship. That’s not good.

While another Orton reign is not something anyone is looking forward to, it would be a lot better. For one, Orton can cut a promo without sounding like a teen currently going through puberty while smoking two packs a day. Mahal’s voice cracks more one promo than there are days in his title reign.

Lastly, Mahal wrestles a fairly pedestrian style that doesn’t exactly light the world on fire. If Orton were to regain the championship, he could actually have good matches. If he were to defend the WWE title against Nakamura, Corbin, or Owens at Summerslam, that could be great. It sounds better than Mahal v. Cena or something.

New Match Added to WWE Battleground

WWE has announced Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis for this Sunday’s WWE Battleground event. Here is the updated card for the show:

Punjabi Prison for the WWE Title
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal

WWE United States Title Match
Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles

SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
The New Day vs. The Usos

Flag Match
Rusev vs. John Cena

Fatal 5 Way Elimination Match to Crown a New #1 Contender
Charlotte Flair vs. Lana vs. Becky Lynch vs. Tamina Snuka vs. Natalya

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin

Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis

Kickoff
Aiden English vs. Tye Dillinger

WWE SmackDown Live Results – July 11 2017

Welcome to SmackDown Live for the 11th of July 2017!

The blue-brand got quite the shake-up this past week, when AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens at a live event in Madison Square Garden to become the United States Champion. Title changes rarely occur at live events and with the two set to square-off at Battleground, it seemed surprising that AJ would win the belt a few weeks prior. Rumour has it that KO might be injured and unable to defend his title at Battleground, which is why the change occured sooner. So it’s unclear if AJ will face a new opponent at the PPV, or if Owens will get a rematch. Owens is scheduled to wrestle tonight, so it’s hard to imagine his injury is severe.

John Cena returned to SmackDown Live last week with a heart of fire and is now set to duel with Rusev at Battleground in a Flag Match. This seems like it will be a one-off feud between the two patriots, as opposed to a rebirth of their former rivalry. The main event for tonight’s show is said to be a tag team match that puts Cena and AJ together against Rusev and Owens.

Elsewhere on SmackDown, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal will be in action against Tye Dillinger, who made a strong showing in last week’s Battle Royal. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Randy Orton appear tonight and possibly help Dillinger to a win to keep his momentum. Baron Corbin and Shinsuke Nakamura are also scheduled to face off tonight, ahead of a probable showdown between them at Battleground. Tonight’s show will also feature The New Day, Naomi, The Uso’s, and more.

Get talking on the Ringside News and Ringside Talk apps, which you can get for free on your app store! Enjoy the show!

Another Match Set for WWE Battleground

AJ Styles won the Independence Day Battle Royal on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live to earn a shot at Kevin Owen’s United States Championship title at the upcoming WWE Battleground event. Here is the updated card:

WWE Title: Punjabi Prison match
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal

WWE United States Championship
AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day vs. The Usos

Flag match
Rusev vs. John Cena

Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Spoiler: Winner of the Independence Day Battle Royal

It was announced this past week that an Independence Day Battle Royal will take place on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live next week. The winner of that bout will move on to face Kevin Owens for the WWE United States Championship at the July 23rd WWE Battleground event.

According to PWInsider, AJ Styles is expected to leave the battle royal victorious. Styles is currently scheduled to face Owens for the Title at Battleground. As of this writing, Styles is the only participant in the match, however more names will likely be revealed in the next couple of days heading into the match.

Major Update on the New UK WWE Network Show

WWE has plans to run biweekly Live Events in the United Kingdom once the UK Championship series premieres.

Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that the company has signed Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, Wolfgang and Mark Andrews to new contracts. These contracts will allow them to work at the WWE Performance Center when needed.

The plan is to shoot the series every six weeks with Live Events every other week in the UK. There is no exact word yet on when they plan to began filming but we will keep you updated.