3 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Aug 4)
WWE confirms a new stable; SmackDown's women suffer; Last-minute SummerSlam hype.
The fact Roman Reigns wasn't present for this week's final push before SummerSlam gave WWE a chance to promote Shotzi's fresh look, Bobby Lashley's new group and one LA Knight. All three of those characters deserve a fair shake to nail down important spots on the blue brand heading into the final quarter of 2023.
Will they get it? Only time will tell, because SmackDown's midcard booking has been erratic at best. It's like all of the writing team's resources go into Bloodline business, and that doesn't leave much for anyone else. Case in point: Asuka, Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair.
Their own SummerSlam push was a total afterthought again this week. It's been a rotten story all-round, and now WWE believes they've done enough to start pounding the vignettes. Sadly, they might as well be doing the same with Austin Theory and his own United States Title defences - they're an afterthought too.
It wasn't all bad though. WWE put on two cracking matches for fans, and the live crowd was right up for this Street Profits repackage job. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins are already more interesting than they've been in years.
Here's all the good and bad from Friday!