8 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Mar 20)
Downs…
3. 'Perfect 10' Makes Up The Numbers
Tye Dillinger's loss to Baron Corbin wasn't overtly a black mark on his current WWE run, but only because said tenure has fallen flatter than the laminated piece of paper he used to keep in his trunks on NXT.
A sad example of creative malaise, Tye's neglect over the last 12 months hasn't exactly benefitted anybody, which is why another defeat against Baron Corbin didn't exactly do much to raise 'The Lone Wolf's profile ahead of both men entering WrestleMania 34's Andre The Giant Battle Royal.
Commentators gave it their best, with overstatements of Corbin's middling 'Mania record used to try and heat up a passable arc that he could be the contest's first ever two-time winner, but Baron's stock is still so low from his disastrous summer programme with John Cena that the mere mention of the statistic only degradates the prestige of the meaningless pre-show trophy further.
Expect Corbin and Mojo Rawley to fight over exactly that before the 'Show Of Shows', as SmackDown Live! continues to fill its undercard with the two-minute dross squashes from NXT's 2015 golden era.