Team Blue have had more time to develop storylines for this PPV than they did for Backlash and it has shown. These matches are generally more anticipated and seem to feel more important rather than slightly hastily booked matches.
All the Smackdown titles are on the line, although I don't see that many changing hands because, with the exception of The Miz, none of them have been held for more than a month.
Baron Corbin v Jack Swagger
Swagger's return to programming has earned him quite a good reaction from the fans, but his dubious victory over Corbin on Smackdown and the quick rematch suggests they are in for a series of matches. I'm not sure which of these guys will come out on top in the long run. Hopefully the feud will elevate them both. Corbin should get the victory here to make it 1-1 in the series, possibly by doing whatever it takes to keep Swagger down. The story hasn't developed enough for this to be their final match with each other.
Prediction: Baron Corbin
Smackdown Tag Team Championship:
Heath Slater & Rhyno (c) v The Usos
The Usos have had a new lease of life since their heel turn and seem to have a little more dimension to their characters. They're the number one heel team on the blue brand by quite some distance and will undoubtedly get the belts at some point soon, although whether American Alpha will get a run first remains to be seen.
An Alpha-Usos rivalry for the belts seems likely in the future, however Alpha probably won't take the belts direct from the current holders, so the Usos will likely do it but not until Slater's had his moment in the sun. Slater and Rhyno need and deserve another few months with the straps to build their following.
Prediction: Heath Slater and Rhyno
Nikki Bella v Carmella
As the longest reigning Divas champion, Nikki had a big target on her back for Carmella to target to attempt to get some respect. Carmella needs the win much more than Nikki does. With only 7 women on the roster, Smackdown really needs more of the women to be believable title contenders otherwise storylines will be stale quite quickly and the brand really needs Carmella to pick up at least one victory over Bella.
Prediction: Carmella
Curt Hawkins v TBC
His oppenent is currently unknown but judging by the number of promo clips he's had on Smackdown over the past few weeks, he should definitely win this one to keep his Chuck Norris style legend going. There's two ways that this could go. It could be a squash match. WWE have shown they are fond of these recently, with Kane, Nia Jax and Braun Strowman all having them since the brand split. It's perhaps not surprising as you have fewer wrestlers available for each of the weekly shows, although it seems to be a bit overused.
The other thing they could do is put him up against someone reasonable who doesn't have a match. Apollo Crews and Kane are the highest profile guys who don't have matches but I don't see either of them putting Hawkins over at this stage in their respective character arcs so my hunch is that it will be someone weak. I half expect them to get James Ellsworth after the reaction he got a couple of weeks ago when he was due to be AJ Style's partner, and the fact he has been mentioned twice on Talking Smack.
Prediction: Curt Hawkins to beat whoever is put in front of him.
Smackdown Women's Championship:
Becky Lynch (c) v Alexa Bliss
Becky said on Talking Smack that she's holding onto the title with a death grip and that's the way that I see it staying for a while. Alexa Bliss has been elevated. I ruled her out completely when doing the preview for Backlash but she managed to make herself into the number one contender by winning a fatal 5 way against the rest of the women's division and has managed to carve out a bit of a niche for herself.
I feel that the women's division has historically lacked enough heels, I think this was perhaps because of the way that they were marketed as "divas" and not superstars as they are now. With divas they were being sold on their image and it would have tarnished this marketing strategy. Now this has changed significantly and Bliss has done well to get herself to the top of the pile of heels and it might be that she gets a run at the top of the ladder at some point. She needs a bit more time to develop her character and make herself a more believable champion. I think this would be a bit too soon but I can see the rivalry extending for a few months.
Prediction: Becky Lynch
Intercontinental Championship (Title v Career):
The Miz (c) v Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler has to win this one. It's as simple as that. The amount of TV time that they've given him since the brand split shows that they're invested in him and so he's not going to just go away. The stipulation provides a nice twist to the storyline where he has been falling short of both the WWE Championship and the Intercontinental Championship over the last few months. The Dolphumentary on this week's Smackdown was nice to give you more of an idea of his history with the company and to make you buy into the fact that he's been hard done by and this is his final chance at redemption.
I'm more bought into Miz after the recent work with Ziggler. He seems to have more credibility even though his character is cowardly. Having to be one of the top heels on the brand has given him the room to shine.
Prediction: Ziggler.
Randy Orton v Bray Wyatt
This match was due to happen at Backlash and I didn't think there had been enough build up at that point. Wyatt attacked Orton backstage rendering him unable to fight and instead Wyatt faced Kane.
There has been a lot more now in the weeks since then and it has been building well, although I think there could still be better to come. Prior to Backlash I wrote that Wyatt's storylines often last a few pay per views and he isn't hurt by a loss. His loss to Kane has already been forgotten. He doesn't seem any less frightening after he loses. Orton probably still needs a morale boosting win after his Summerslam KO at the hands of Lesnar and Wyatt can still pursue him in ever more creepy ways. A few more weeks of mind games and a conclusion at Survivor Series would suit me nicely.
Prediction: Orton
WWE World Championship
AJ Styles (c) v Dean Ambrose v John Cena
I think Cena's inclusion was mainly so that we wouldn't be seeing Styles v Ambrose again and to give us a bit of variety. His talk about beating Ric Flair's record in recent weeks shows that he's got the desire to get back to the top again having been lower down the card for a while. The company probably owe him after the work he's done putting over upcoming talent (Styles and Kevin Owens, specifically) and he has really earned the honour. He's probably got a few years left of his career so it seems likely to happen at some point. Their weird thing about it is that he will have to win it and then lose it again in order to break the record.
For all that, this is not the time for him to take the belt back. It wouldn't be much of a journey for him to start talking about it and then win it a couple of weeks later. The record equalling championship should happen at a more prestigious event. Survivor Series is next month but that might still be too soon, and I think Royal Rumble in January is more likely.
It is not the time for Ambrose to get the belt back either. Styles has been dominant since his arrival in January and to cut his first title reign short now would undo all of that work. I was wrong about him winning the title at Backlash. I thought more of a pursuit of the title would happen, but he is unstoppable and he shouldn't be stopped now.
Prediction: AJ Styles
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