4 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (April 18)
KO's Face Of America shtick is a complete riot...
Last week's 'Superstar Shakeup' has already worked wonders for SmackDown (thanks to incomers like Kevin Owens, Charlotte Flair and others), but WWE's cross-brand confusion and the upcoming Payback pay-per-view have served to muddy the waters.
On the Raw pay-per-view, Kevin Owens will defend the WWE United States Title against Chris Jericho, with the winner staying on SmackDown. As if that isn't weird enough, WWE Champ and SmackDown star Randy Orton faces Bray Wyatt (now of the Raw) brand on the same show.
As much as WWE could have been doing without such a perplexing situation, it didn't stop this week's SmackDown from being a fine and straightforward program that's still an easier watch than Raw.
Despite some of the problems listed here, there's more to enjoy than get frustrated at on the blue brand currently, and that's largely because the show has a nice flow aided by some new faces that once again feel fresh on Tuesday nights.
Slight teething problems in some feuds, interspersed with some seriously good wrestling made this week's show a mixed bag...
Downs...
3. American Alpha Continue To Struggle
Chad Gable and Jason Jordan really could have been doing with a move to Raw during the 'Superstar Shakeup', because the American Alpha duo are currently going nowhere on SmackDown. That's a problem, and it's strange to see WWE's writing team undermine such a clearly talented tag-team.
After being attacked by Primo and Epico Colon last week, the former SmackDown Tag Champs were once again made to look foolish when they couldn't avenge that ambush by beating the former Shining Stars face-to-face.
Staring at the lights within three minutes did nothing for Alpha, and with the impending arrival on SmackDown of The New Day they must be worried about their place in the tag-team division; there's no way New Day will be anything less than top challengers to The Usos, and that shunts American Alpha further down the card.
Right now, Gable and Jordan have nowhere to go, and that's bad booking.