4 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (July 25)

A great main event and a major return highlight SmackDown's modest rebound.

AJ Styles
WWE.com

SmackDown had a lot of mistakes to undo last night. Sunday's Battleground pay-per-view was one of the worst that WWE have produced in years, and with its extreme disappointment still fresh in the memory, the blue brand needed a strong rebound to avoid becoming a laughing stock.

They were partly successful in doing so. This week's SmackDown was a solid offering highlighted by a blow-away main event and Chris Jericho's surprise return, with the United States Title scene book-ending the show. Jericho, AJ Styles, and Kevin Owens' offerings were far from perfect, however, and their match's conclusion perpetuated the division's biggest problem: hot-shotting.

It was a relatively quiet night for the tag and women's scenes, though both did feature. Elsewhere, John Cena challenged Jinder Mahal to a WWE Title match at SummerSlam, Baron Corbin and Sami Zayn met in a Battleground rematch, and new SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day saw their celebrations thwarted by The Usos.

A decent show overall, but there were too many low points to declare it anything better than that. What aspects pushed SmackDown forward this week, and which ones dragged it back to Battleground's level? Let's have a look...

Downs…

4. Another Tiresome Trope

Shinsuke Nakamura Baron Corbin
WWE.com

WWE have a nasty habit of portraying their Money In The Bank winners likes losers ahead of their eventual cash-in. Generally speaking, they love to have their briefcase holders cool-off in a major way as soon as they snag the contract, presumably so the audience forgets about them and the cash-in feels like a bigger surprise, but the practice has become extremely predictable.

It now looks like they’re going through the same rigmarole with Baron Corbin. ‘The Lone Wolf’ was disqualified from his lowly match with Shinsuke Nakamura at Battleground, and faced ‘The King Of Strong Style’ again last night. Though still no better than mediocre, the match was a slight improvement on the PPV offering, with Nakamura looking a tad less lethargic while attacking.

Corbin lost when he missed a low blow and Nakamura hit him with the Kinshasa in little under 10 minutes. Shinsuke now moves on to a number one contender’s match, but Corbin will presumably face months of big losses before entering the spotlight, the victim of yet another tiresome booking trope creeping into SmackDown's increasingly predictable product.

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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.