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WWE

Without question, SmackDown women's champion Becky Lynch is the hottest act in the business right now, which gave everyone more than enough reason to tune into SmackDown Live Tuesday night. While she was really only off SmackDown television for one week, Lynch made her return to the blue brand on Tuesday as she gets set to return to action following the unfortunate injury she suffered on Raw a few weeks ago.

We learned that Lynch will indeed be getting right back into the thick of things, as she'll be defending her title at the upcoming TLC event. And she'll have quite the workload awaiting her because not only will she be defending her championship against one woman in a brutal match at TLC, she'll have two women vying for her title. 

Becky Lynch has a tall order ahead

General manager Paige kicked off this week's SmackDown, getting right to the point in brining back "The Man" for the first time since the Survivor Series go-home show. Lynch said that when you're the hottest thing in the industry, any time away is too much time away. The SmackDown women's champion said that she's done sitting on the sidelines, and she's putting herself back in the game. Lynch immediately called out the woman she chose to take her place at Survivor Series against Raw women's champion Ronda Rousey -- Charlotte Flair. Lynch told Flair that she requested she give Rousey the beating she would have, and she came close to what she herself would have done. Flair shot back by telling Lynch she wasn't trying to emulate her, she was simply being herself -- the seven-time women's champion. Lynch and Flair began to get even more heated with one another, and that's when Paige announced that Flair would take on Lynch for the SmackDown women's title at TLC in a Tables, Ladders & Chairs match because she appreciated Flair's passion so much. 

Then things took an interesting turn. 

Mandy Rose's music hit, and she came out with Sonya Deville, The IIconics and Zelina Vega while stating they all deserved a title shot against Lynch. Naomi's music was next, and she was flanked by Asuka (who once again received one of the biggest ovations of the night), Carmella and Lana campaigning for an opportunity as well. Paige was ready to give that opportunity, as she announced all the women would compete in a battle royal later Tuesday night, with the winner being added to the title bout at TLC. 

Asuka wins the women's battle royal: The main event, nine-woman battle royal came down to Asuka and Deville. Despite the best effort of the eliminated Rose to help Deville from the outside, Asuka connected with a knee to the face to earn the right challenge Lynch for the SmackDown women's championship along with Flair at TLC. 

Admittedly, I was a bit nervous they were jumping right back into the one-on-one Flair-Lynch feud, so needless to say, it was a welcome twist that a third woman was being added to the mix at TLC. Asuka here was absolutely the correct choice as well, as it's been hard to ignore the receptions she's been getting from the live crowds in recent weeks despite the terrible creative direction she's been dealt. Lynch, Flair and Asuka in this historic TLC triple threat should be a treat, and has the opportunity to be the match of the night. Grade: A-

AJ Styles sends a message to Daniel Bryan

In the ring, the former WWE champion said that the 14 days he's been without the WWE title seem a lot longer than the over 300 days that he was was the titleholder. Styles said it's not so much that he lost the title that bothers him, rather it's the way he lost it. They cut to footage of the Bryan heel turn that led to his WWE championship win over Styles. Styles said he wasn't really so mad about how Bryan went about winning the title, but he was really upset over the attack afterwards that led to him not being even medically cleared to compete at Survivor Series. They then cut to more footage of Bryan's explanation from last week where he declared the new Daniel Bryan was here. The former champion doesn't care if it's the old or new Bryan, it's still the same face and he looks forward to smashing it. Styles revealed that Bryan wasn't there tonight, and he wasn't at the live events over the weekend -- which led to a subtle shot at universal champion Brock Lesnar by suggesting maybe Bryan is taking some schedule tips from him. Styles let Bryan know that at TLC he can bring his dreams and his excuses, but he better not forget the WWE title because it belongs to him. 

This was a proper, expected response from Styles here to set up what will likely be one more match with Bryan at TLC before both move on to their respective feuds entering 2019. While it's never a terrible thing to know that you're going to see Styles and Bryan compete with one another in the very near future, it's difficult to get too excited when you virtually know both will be moving on following TLC. Nonetheless, everything Styles said here in response to having the title stolen from him two weeks ago worked for what this all is. Grade: B-

What else happened on SmackDown?

  • The Usos def. The Bar via pinfall in a non-title match: The Usos answered an open challenge that was made earlier in the day by the champs, and Jimmy Uso got the victory after a splash off the top rope. Now you'd have to assume The Usos have earned a title shot, presumably at TLC. 
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev ended in a no contest: This non-title contest never even got started as the United States champion attacked Rusev before the bell even rang, eventually laying him out on the outside. 
  • Samoa Joe crashes Jeff Hardy's celebration: As advertised, 20 years of Hardy was celebrated, with a lengthy video package and every superstar on the roster atop the stage. Hardy told the fans that this was by no means a retirement, and let's see what the future brings. Joe emerged and took some pretty personal jabs at Hardy and his past issues with substance abuse. Hardy invited Joe into the ring for a match right there, and while Joe teased obliging him, he retreated to the back instead as this new blue-brand feud kicks off. 
  • Kofi Kingston def. The Miz via pinfall: In a bout that was set up earlier in the night during a backstage segment, Kingston nailed Miz with Trouble in Paradise as he was distracted by Xavier Woods on the outside after trying to introduce a chair into the match. Shout out to Woods for sporting a "The Man" shirt in honor of the SmackDown women's champion while on the outside. Backstage, Miz confronted Shane McMahon in front of the World Cup trophy to ask where he was for help. Miz said the bond they have over that trophy makes them family, so he better start acting like it. 
  • Randy Orton brutalizes Rey Mysterio ... again: Orton came out holding the mask of Rey Mysterio that he took after his attack last week. Orton called the attack euphoric before saying he never really got the history behind the mask. What he did last week was not meant to disrespect Mysterio's culture, it was to humiliate him and prove to everyone that Mysterio is simply just another one of his victims. Mysterio appeared, and Orton tried to attack him but Mysterio ended up getting the better of him for a bit, hitting two 619s. Orton regained control as Mysterio attempted to bring a chair into the ring, and eventually laid out Mysterio again by draping Mysterio's throat over the chair and slamming it into the steps.