This past Friday, WWE got is Smackdown World Cup tournament underway. With two matches under their belt, lets take a look at what happened so far and what the rest of the tournament could go. Before we get into the analysis, I wanted to note that I got five out of the eight participants right, so kudos to me. Although there were no surprise entrants in this tournament, the lineup still look solid and I think that there is a very obvious winner in the tournament.
What Happened so far in the Smackdown World Cup
The entrants in this tournament that was revealed is Santos Escobar, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, Braun Stroman, Mustfa Ali, Riccochet, Jinder Mahal, and Butch.
From the rumors, Mustfa Ali, who is a Monday Night Raw superstar, is a replacement for Rey Mysterio Jr. Even though this don’t make sense, I’m not mad at all about it.
The matches that happened already is that Santos Escobar beat Shinsuke and Braun Stroman beat
Jinder Mahal.
The matchups that suppose to happen this Friday include Sami Zayn versus Butch and Mustfa Ali versus Riccochet. It’s no surprise that Braun won because he is steaming hot right now and he wouldn’t lose to anyone in the first round of this tournament, especially Jinder Mahal.
As for Santos Escobar, he had to win because he is new and he needed to be able to show why fans should take him and his new group seriously.
What Might Happen Now
With the other two matches in the first round, I predict that Riccochet will beat Mustafa Ali. This isn’t a hot take mainly because Ali shouldn’t be in the tournament anyway.
Riccochet is in a weird spot on Smackdown. He wins enough to be seen as a threat but not enough for anyone to really think that he might go all the way.
We’ve already seen Riccochet versus GUNTHER which was actually really good, but its not a match that needs
a tournament to get to. On the other side, I think that Sami Zayn versus Butch will end with Sami getting the win.
Butch is also a person that I think even though people might want to win, no one think that he will. He loses nothing in a loss but can put on a great match with Sami.
Sami is somehow the biggest babyface in the company even though he is a actually a heel. I don’t think that WWE would let Sami lose this match mainly because Braun, who I think he would face in the second round needs a heel to go against.
On the other side, I think that Riccochet will face Santos Escobar in the second round.
Predictions for the Semifinals and Finals
On one side, I think Braun versus Sami will end with Braun winning by some type of botched interference by The Bloodline even though Braun don’t need the interference to defeat Sami.
This match will basically be used to further dissention with The Bloodline and make Braun look even more dominate than he has been looking lately.
On the other side, I think that Riccochet versus Santos Escobar will end with Santos getting the win. They will put on a amazing match, which will probably be a glimpse at the future of what Escobar’s next feud might be after his group
get finished with HitRow.
There is no reason that Riccochet should beat Escobar, especially if he isn’t winning the tournament. In the finals,
even though I would want Santos Escobar to win, Braun Stroman will hand Escobar his first singles loss on Smackdown and I think this is the right move.
This will most likely set up Braun Stroman versus GUNTHER at Survior Series, with GUNTHER winning. I could interference by Omos at that match but it will still be a great, big man, meat slapping meat match.
Other than Sheamus, GUNTHER has always beat guys that are much smaller than himself. With Braun, there will be someone who is his same size and can take his offense.
If this happens, look at this match being hard hitting and a few months down the line, it being one of GUNTHER’s biggest victories (pun intended).
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