Two Big Matches Set for Next Week’s “Smackdown Live”

Set it up, pay it off. Things are speeding up in WWE as we get closer and closer towards the biggest times of the year. In this case, that includes “Smackdown Live” as we come out of “Royal Rumble 2018”, including matches and stories advancing in a hurry. Two such matches were set up for next week’s show.

Tonight on “Smackdown Live”, Daniel Bryan announced that Kevin Owens will face Sami Zayn next week in a #1 contenders match with the winner facing Smackdown World Champion AJ Styles at “Fastlane 2018”. In another #1 contenders match held tonight, Rusev won a four way match by defeating Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder and Jinder Mahal, earning a shot at US Champion Bobby Roode next week.

Here’s how the first match was set up.

Daniel Bryan throws a wrench in the plans of Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn: SmackDown LIVE, Jan. 30, 2018

And here’s how the second match was set up.

Kingston vs. Ryder vs. Rusev vs. Mahal - Fatal 4-Way Match: SmackDown LIVE, Jan. 30, 2018

You can read the full results here.

Opinion: I love it when WWE does this. There’s no point in spending next week’s TV time setting up everything for that night so get it out of the way here. It also gives you a chance to build some interest in the next week before the matches and that’s a very good thing. This was a good decision and they set things up for next week very well. Now do this more often.

Which of these matches interests you more? Who wins both of them? Let us know in the comments below.