The latest episode of WWE's Thursday Night Smackdown was the first to air on the USA Network. As a company, WWE made a huge deal out of the fact that both Monday Night Raw and Smackdown would be on the same channel. Inside the promotion at least, the switch to USA is being treated as a major thing for the future of Smackdown. The big question remained however, would the jump to a new station help the show? Overall, this week's edition of the show was a very smooth affair. It's clear that WWE feel lengthy matches are an ideal way to fill out time on Smackdown. On the whole, there's less emphasis on in-ring speaking segments and more attention paid to delivering solid in-ring action. That can only be considered a plus point, especially for those fans who feel Raw - at 3 hours long - can drag a little. For the debut episode on USA, WWE wheeled out a WWE Divas Title match, but also headlined the show with an Intercontinental Title showdown between Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens. John Cena was also slated to make an appearance, which would theoretically help boost the ratings. This article features 5 distinct positives from the broadcast, but also analyses 3 different negatives which served to take away from Smackdown.
