Official “Smackdown Live” Preview – January 16, 2018

Let’s get this over with. The last few weeks of “Smackdown Live” haven’t been the most thrilling in the world as Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon have been dominating the shows in their power struggle. At the same time though, we have a big time World Title match set for the upcoming pay per view, plus a US Title tournament going on at the same time. With two shows left before “Royal Rumble 2018”, it’s time to pick things up a little.

WWE.com has released its official preview for this week’s “Smackdown Live” with four stories the show will focus on. Two of the four are related to the United States Title tournament with both semifinal matches taking place on tomorrow night’s show. This will be one of the final shows before the “2018 Royal Rumble” so there will likely be some extra build for the pay per view. Here are the stories previewed:

Xavier Woods and Jinder Mahal clash in United States Title Tournament Semifinal

Xavier Woods vs. Aiden English - U.S. Title Tournament First Round: SmackDown LIVE, Jan. 2, 2018

Bobby Roode battles Mojo Rawley in United States Title Tournament Semifinal

Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley - U.S. Title Tournament First Round Match: SmackDown LIVE, Jan. 9, 2018

Charlotte Flair, Naomi & Becky Lynch take on the Riott Squad

Natalya, Carmella & Tamina vs. The Riott Squad: SmackDown LIVE, Jan. 2, 2017

How will Owens & Zayn react to Shane McMahon’s meddling in their match?

AJ Styles, Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn: SmackDown LIVE, Jan. 9, 2018

Opinion: Just please be better than last week’s show. The recent episodes of “Smackdown Live” have been borderline dreadful with stories that don’t make a lot of sense and the bosses taking up way too much TV time with everyone, including the World Champion, being sent to the side. Hopefully things are a little bit better this time around.

Which of these stories interests you the most? Who do you think wins the tournament? Let us know in the comments below.