7 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Sept 4)

Good things come to those who wait.

Bayley Sasha Banks
WWE.com

Hands up who had Jey Uso pencilled in as Roman Reigns' first Universal Title challenger.

It can't have been many, because 'Uce' wasn't even in the running when the latest episode of SmackDown went on the air. The show has been on a slight roll recently, and those in charge of penning stories for the major titles can rightly pat themselves on the back - who could've known that a move to some purpose-built "ThunderDome" would re-energise things this much?

This week's episode featured a massive swing that'll lead to Women's Title goodness further down the line (maybe next year's 'Mania?). It also had Roman Reigns going all Brock Lesnar, some intriguing Intercontinental Title shenanigans, a smart sidestep for one of SmackDown's future top babyfaces and heels spitting truth.

The broadcast even managed to make Shanya Baszler and Nia Jax work as a cohesive, potentially-exciting tag-team. How the hell did they manage that one? Witchcraft, surely, because those gals were tanking hard as argumentative champs beforehand.

It was a good week then. Here are all the 'Ups' and 'Downs' from another refreshingly positive slice of WWE...

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood.