12 Ups & 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Jun 25)

A step in the right direction, but oh-so formulaic.

Kofi Kingston
WWE.com

Last night's SmackDown was a classic case of great performers transcending bad writing. The wrestlers worked hard and delivered a big batch of largely enjoyable segments and matches, though their jobs were made harder by Vince McMahon's bloated creative team, whose curious booking choices and strict adherence to overdone formulae dragged it down to a three-star show.

Vince's new insistence that no wrestling should take place during commercial breaks yielded a couple of two-out-of-three falls matches. The Miz met Shane McMahon proxy Elias in the first, continuing that long-running storyline, while Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston collided in the main event. If he won, Dolph would be added to the champ's upcoming Extreme Rules defence versus Samoa Joe.

SmackDown also brought big developments in the tag division as Daniel Bryan and Rowan's regular tag with The New Day erupted after the final bell, pulling Heavy Machinery and Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn into the mix. Elsewhere, Ember Moon's feud with Fire and Desire continued as she wrestled Sonya Deville, Nikki Cross battled Bayley in her latest attempt at appeasing Alexa Bliss, R-Truth bantered "Hornswoggle" off, and someone finally knocked on Aleister Black's door.

Let's dive into it.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. 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.