5 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (July 18)
Not even the Punabi Prison could separate this go-home show from the norm.
Last night’s SmackDown slotted perfectly into the line of best fit on the show’s quality chart. Solid but unspectacular, its repetitive low points were tempered by some smart, logical angles and matches, but as usual, there was nothing to get overly excited about.
Tuesday nights provide a light, breezy watch these days, but the lack of "must see" material is becoming problematic. Nonetheless, SD's latest offering was a moderately effective Battleground go-home show, with each of the brand's major storylines getting some shine.
The night opened with Jinder Mahal trading verbal barbs inside the Punjabi Prison, and closed with a AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura teaming to face Baron Corbin and Kevin Owens. Elsewhere, the Tag Team Title feud continued with another singles bout, Chad Gable addressed the Jason Jordan situation, and Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch provided a predictably good women's contest.
There wasn't much to get fans hyped for Sunday's pay-per-view, but it was a decent show regardless. Let's take a look at the segments that had SmackDown making a break for freedom, and those that made us consider throwing away the key...
Downs…
3. Randy & Jinder Go To Prison
The Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal feud has been rumbling on for three months now, but should finally come to an end when they compete in a Punjabi Prison match on Sunday. Last night saw the duo meet for one final promo battle with the structure set up around the ring, and while each man had a couple of new lines for the other, it was largely the same thing we’ve been listening to April.
Jinder promised to beat Randy, and Randy promised to beat Jinder. Jinder spoke in Punjabi, and Randy vowed to embarrass him before an audience of 1.3 billion Indian people. The script has barely changed since the duo came together, and while Mahal’s delivery has improved in that time period, neither wrestler did enough to make the opening segment interesting.
They haven’t exactly been working with stellar material, but Orton vs. Mahal is the dullest program on SmackDown at the moment. Here’s hoping Battleground really is the end, because the feud has totally killed all intrigue in SD’s main event scene. It’s time for both men to get away from each other, move on to something else, and let the WWE Title scene prosper again.