2 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE SmackDown (17 April - Results & Review)
1. THIS Was The Go-Home For WrestleMania?!
Some believe that Friday's face to face was a teaser for a heel turn and feud between them once either (or both) Cody Rhodes or CM Punk drops their titles at WrestleMania 42. It could be, but let's analyse the segment on its own merits individually first. Spoiler alert: It wasn't good. In fact, it kinda seemed like WWE had spare time left over and just sent these guys out there to fill it.
It was a conversation that should've taken place behind the scenes, to be blunt.
Cody and Punk gushed with compliments for one another, and warned the other about their opponents at ‘Mania. That was it. Also, Punk practically begged the audience to tune in on Monday for Raw after the PLE. You've got to wonder what WWE is playing at with all these empty segments, the self-hate about ticket sales etc, and the begging from babyfaces. Can anyone else believe this was the last thing WWE thought people should see before WrestleMania 42?!
There was zero heat, zero stakes, zero tension and zero excitement. It was just 2 babyfaces who don't interact a lot on television saying, 'You da best, no you da best' repeatedly until they ran out of time and decided to go celebrate with the crowd before major title matches 24 and 48 hours from that point.
WrestleMania's 'go home' should be impactful and dramatic, not soft-centred and wishy-washy. If this was a preview for a heel turn from Punk or Cody, then it wasn't a very good one.