WWE Unlocks Rare Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton Storyline, More SmackDown Fallout

On the heels of Extreme Rules, SmackDown Live wasted little time turning its attention to SummerSlam with a new contender to Kofi Kingston's WWE title, fresh faces and hints at the storylines and rivalries fans can expect to dominate Tuesday nights for the foreseeable future.

Randy Orton stepped up to challenge Kingston and in doing so, unlocked a rare match built on history dating back a decade. Personal tension, professional disappointment and championship gold fuels their upcoming program—if WWE wishes.

Dive deeper into that prospective championship program and the other biggest takeaways from the July 16 episode with this recap of the USA Network broadcast.

History Between Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston Makes for Compelling Title Match

The January 11, 2010, episode of Raw saw a mistimed spot in which Kofi Kingston was not in a position to eat the RKO that would give Randy Orton the victory.

An irritated Viper lashed out at his opponent on live television, repeatedly yelling "stupid" before picking up the win. That moment led to the end of Kingston's main event push.

Nearly a decade later, the New Day member is the WWE champion, and thanks to another RKO on this week's SmackDown Live, he appears poised to defend the title against Orton at SummerSlam.

Though there was no mention of the 2010 incident during Tuesday's broadcast, WWE Creative has a very real genesis for the heat between Kingston and Orton and would be foolish not to build on it.

Orton holding Kingston down almost 10 years ago, then returning to take the title from him and end his fairy-tale run now, is superb storytelling that would make for a compelling match at the second-most significant pay-per-view of the year.

If allowed to play on that tension from earlier in their careers, Orton and Kingston could suck the audience in and give them a reason to care about the match beyond one guy fighting another for a belt.

Rarely does WWE have such a dynamic fall in its lap like this. It is a gift to a maligned writing team that needs something to generate fan interest as it prepares for its trip to Toronto on August 11.

Letting Kingston voice his frustrations about the past and allowing Orton to respond as the cold, calculating and heartless heel he is would give the writers that something to ensure the SmackDown side of things has a much more intriguing main event than Raw.

Most importantly, it would give Kingston's title reign legitimacy because working with, and potentially defeating, a guy like Orton carries more weight than beating Dolph Ziggler, Samoa Joe or Kevin Owens.

New Feuds, Character Development Highlights First SmackDown Under Eric Bischoff

The Eric Bischoff era of SmackDown Live began Tuesday night, and while the show was not the most explosive from a storytelling standpoint, it did provide a look at some of the rivalries and stars it can expect to be prominently featured in the coming weeks.

Ali interrupted Shinsuke Nakamura's backstage promo and hinted that he wants a shot at the Intercontinental Championship. Liv Morgan stood up to Charlotte Flair, lost a hard-fought match to The Queen and then promised she would come back more "real." 

Women's champion Bayley handpicked Ember Moon as her SummerSlam challenger and Kevin Owens continued to run wild, dropping anyone in his path with a stunner.

We also saw a new, more focused version of Elias who the commentary put over as making his in-ring game the priority rather than his music.

Bischoff and the writing team began planting the seeds for a show that will give fresh faces opportunities while also being the setting for new matches that have not been overexposed or devalued through repetition.

It was a welcome change of pace, and one that will benefit SmackDown Live exponentially going forward—as long as the new executive director can sustain the momentum.

Kevin Owens Is Perfect Antihero Hindered by Imperfect Creative Process

WWE Creative does not deserve a performer like Kevin Owens.

KO was the featured player of this week's show, dropping Shane McMahon with a stunner to start and end the broadcast. Unfortunately for him, his badass persona was hindered when he ran away from an onslaught of heels at the end of the night.

Fed up with the current system, disenfranchised by "the man," Owens has struck out verbally and physically. Unfortunately, everything he has done loses a significant punch when he is sprinting out of the arena to avoid getting his ass handed to him.

Yes, it's smart, but the guy who inspired this character development never would have been seen hightailing it out of the arena.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin would have stood up in the face of The B-Team, Cesaro, Drew McIntyre and others and he may have gotten his ass kicked. In the process, though, he would have leveled them with as many rights, lefts, kicks and stomps possible. He would have gone down in a blaze of glory and fans respected him for it.

Owens running away may be the right move to preserve himself, but it looks like a cowardly move.

KO has earned better than that. He has proved himself a performer consistently capable of getting and staying over. He plays both villain and hero to perfection and is coming off a pipe-bomb promo that sparked renewed interest in him.

WWE cannot afford to screw this up at a time when it is desperately seeking any star, story or bit of intrigue to turn around sagging ratings and dwindling live event attendances.

Having the anti-authority rebel running away from a fight is hardly the way to preserve said interest.

Let Owens be a badass. Not every babyface has to be a knight in white armor, smiling and kissing babies. Let him fight. Let him get beat up and let him come back for more the next week. That is the type of booking that will get him over at the level WWE Creative and those in management are hoping for.