11 Ups & 1 Down From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Oct 30)

Downs...

1. Please Don't Go

The sole blight on last night's show was a backstage segment in which Shane McMahon briefed his World Cup participants, before throwing down the gauntlet: lose in the final, and you're no longer welcome on SmackDown.

While this helps adds stakes to an otherwise trivial tournament, it sucks that WWE may now be on the verge of sending one of SD's brightest to Raw. Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, The Miz, and Jeff Hardy have all profited from the blue brand's smart, logical booking, and while they aren't always involved in major programmes, each is a credit to the show. They should stay here, where they might not make television every week, but will be used correctly whenever they do, rather than leap to a show too muddled and messy to present more than a handful of wrestlers in a positive light.

The segment itself was fine. While Shane and the wrestlers largely spoke in clichéd soundbites, it accomplished what it set out to. That's where the problem lies, though: there's a 50/50 chance SmackDown could now be robbed for a fun performer, and slimmer odds they'll receive a comparable star in return.