10 Ups & 0 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Jul 24)

Highlights aplenty as Miz, Joe, and Orton steal the show.

Daniel Bryan The Miz Maryse
WWE.com

Numbers can be deceiving.

A quick glance at this week's title suggests an all-time great episode of SmackDown, and that everything found within its two hours was exceptional. This isn't quite the case. What the fabled "0 Downs" really means is that no match, segment, or storyline was a net negative, and that while there were a couple of minor gripes peppered throughout the night, each was too nitpicky to justify its own entry.

That being said, it was another storming night from the blue brand, with AJ Styles finally learning his SummerSlam opponent, The Miz waging another round of psychological warfare with Daniel Bryan, and Becky Lynch fighting for the right to face Carmella on the 19 August pay-per-view.

Elsewhere, Paige's tag tournament kicked off with Sanity vs. The New Day, Randy Orton explained last week's assault of Jeff Hardy, and Asuka embarked on the road to recovery.

Everything on this show ranged from "decent" to "great." Nothing was spectacular, but it all succeeded, resulting in a well-formed show with only a couple of notable peaks, but no valleys. Hats off to the blue writing team: they're more than making up for the misery of WWE's other main roster brand at the moment...

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.