Tonight, on the With Spandex WWE Smackdown Live open discussion thread for December 20, 2016:
Tonight, Luke Harper will look to unleash his dark brand of retribution into The Ambrose Asylum. Plus, following the injury that Zack Ryder suffered in the No. 1 Contenders’ Battle Royal last week, don’t miss a Wild Card Triple Threat Match to determine the new No. 1 contenders to The Wyatt Family. — via WWE.com
Our five-point preview:
1. Once again, Luke Harper is getting a big showcase singles match. Granted, he’s just going to lose to greasy ol’ Dean Ambrose, but it’s definitely nice that he’s a more-or-less upper-card guy now. Turns out being super talented and associated with some of the characters that get the most television time can pay off!
2. After Zack Ryder’s very unfortunate knee injury last week, we’re in need of new No. 1 tag team contenders all over again, so we’re getting a Wild Card Triple Threat Match, which I can only assume will feature the Birds of War from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. WILD CARD!
3. Yes, we still don’t know who attacked Nikki Bella. Yes, apparently we’re still supposed to care. It’s like every week they’re making the intrigue less and less intriguing. Eventually, Jim Duggan is just going to find this storyline while going through the trash, and we’ll never speak of it again.
4. Our special guest this week is Ryan Phillippe, who is literally the star of USA Network’s Shooter, a totally decent Mark Wahlberg movie that’s now our generation’s Renegade. (I assume. I haven’t watched it, but I hear that characters are welcome, so it has that going for it.)
5. It’s supposedly set to happen tonight, but at this point, we can just assume that James Ellsworth is never getting that title match against AJ Styles. I’m just going to believe this is in order to keep Ellsworth fresh to be Undertaker’s opponent at WrestleMania 33, where he becomes the No. 2 behind the “2” in “23 and 2.”
Also happening tonight is the hot new show dedicated entirely to cruiserweights, 205 Live:
Tonight on WWE 205 Live, Neville teams with The Brian Kendrick to battle WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann and TJ Perkins. – Via WWE.com
Feel free to use this as your one-stop party shop for Tuesday night wrestling shenanigans, an
