10 Ups & 1 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Sept 4)
In which Brie Bella DOESN'T almost kill herself.
The perfect tonic after a shambolic episode of Monday Night Raw, last night's SmackDown was a triumph from start to finish, presenting only one major concern throughout its two hours of quality programming.
This week's offering was largely built around the long-running Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz saga, and the rotating cast of characters surrounding them. As Bryan and Brie Bella gave chase, Miz and Maryse played cat and mouse for most of the night, with Andrade 'Cien' Almas and Zelina Vega once again stepping up in their absence. On top of this, 'The A-Lister' found himself across the ring from ex-tag partner R-Truth later on, even though the former K-Kwik remains focused on Carmella.
Elsewhere, the Naomi vs. IIconics feud continued with another singles match and a surprise return, the Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair and AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe programmes stayed on course, while Rusev Day, The Usos, and Sanity met in the latest tag tournament clash.
Almost everything on SmackDown worked. Nothing was truly spectacular, but at the absolute worst, these segments and matches were perfectly functional, and succeeded in furthering their intended points. There's just one thing to address before diving into the pool of positivity, though...