8 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (June 5)
Consistency is key on Tuesday nights.
SmackDown's lack of buzz is interesting.
At a time when Raw has slipped into a seemingly unbreakable pattern of blandness, you'd think the blue brand's solid weekly offerings would at least generate some hype. Yet while regular viewers recognise SD's upturn in quality this year, it provokes little excitement on a week-to-week basis, even with its big red cousin churning out tripe like the Sami Zayn vs. Bobby Lashley feud.
SmackDown rarely delivers anything that bad, but it's never perfect either, and last night's show yielded two clear duds. Still, it was another positive week for Team Blue. While not a creative peak, this is the most consistently entertaining SD has been in a long time, and their Money In The Bank build is delivering.
We got six-man action last night as The New Day faced off against Rusev, The Miz, and Samoa Joe. Elsewhere, Becky Lynch faced Charlotte Flair ahead of MITB, Daniel Bryan and Shinsuke Nakamura signed their latest match contract, Carmella's braggadocio ran wild, and Asuka battled the odds in a handicap match.
There are many, many worse ways to spend two hours of your Tuesday evening, so let's dive into it...