5 Takeaways From SmackdownLive - 7/3/18

This is my series, simply known as "5 Takeaways", where I will share my personal main talking points coming out of Raw and SmackdownLive.

These are all my opinion, so I may miss a nugget or two. If you have something to add to my list, or a list of your own, feel free to share in the comment section below!

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With Shinsuke Nakamura out with his injury (we don't know the current timetable), Jeff Hardy and the United States Championship is kind of stuck in a rut until he gets back.

This is combatted by a series of open challenges every week. They are actually very fun, and have an element of surprise to them, considering it could be any number of superstars who answer his challenge each week.

At some point, we will have to move on to a solid feud for Hardy (it will likely be the return of Nakamura), but until then, I'm more than happy with these weekly good matches with guys like Eric Young and The Miz.

I know, I write about this every week for my Smackdown Takeaways, but it's only a two hour show - there's only so much I can write about! All jokes aside, Becky Lynch has been on one of the best rolls since moving over to SmackdowLive when the brand split began.

I believe her win over Peyton Royce this week makes this her third consecutive victory. Acknowledged by the commentators, this has to be a part of a story at some point. There needs to be some kind of payoff, preferably involving Lynch winning the Smackdown Women's title.

Yes! In a surprise, Sanity interrupted a New Day pancake-eating contest, and delivered a serious beatdown on the fun-loving trio. I'm very excited for this feud, since it involves two very charismatic factions. New Day haven't had a serious rivalry since their battles with The Usos.

These six superstars look like an excellent match, considering they're nearly exact opposites from one another. Hopefully this will be a long-lasting feud, involving plenty of fun promos and exciting in-ring action.

I'm still getting over the fact that Rusev is finally getting his WWE title match. It would have been interesting to see it as Rusev Day the faces and Styles as the heel, but this way should be fun as well.

The champion quickly submitted Aiden English to the Calf Crusher, despite an early distraction by Rusev. After the match, the challenger put a hellacious beatdown on Styles, including a Machka Kick, and locking him in the Accolade before leaving.

It seems this rivalry is getting more personal by the week, and I have absolutely zero complaints about that. The animosity between the two will come to a head at Extreme Rules, where I am expecting a very good in-ring performance.

What can I say about Team Hell No? They're funny when they want to be funny, and they kick ass when they're in the ring. Throughout the show, Daniel Bryan and Kane continued to bicker between each other like they did back in 2013. They have a great sense of humor when interacting together, and it shows in almost every segment they find themselves in.

In the main event, Team Hell No fought The Usos, where if the latter won, they'd be inserted into the tag team title match at Extreme Rules. After a great match, Kane hit a Chokeslam to win it, and keep their title opportunity just between them and the Bludgeon Brothers. The champions came out, and we saw an intense staredown between the four men.

Now I don't know if Team Hell No is going to win the titles at any point, but I'm glad to see them back together, and still having that chemistry from their earlier run. This is definitely one of the most exciting acts happening in WWE today.