3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (14 Nov - Results & Review)
3. That Rushed Main Event
Clearly, WWE's creative team wanted to get to the show-closing angle more than present a hot WWE Title match, but Cody Rhodes vs. Bronson Reed still felt rushed and like the show was running low on time. Frankly, they could’ve turned that opening segment with the women into a backstage promo and saved some minutes that'd come in handy later on.
The DQ finish was coming a mile off, but there’s an apathy to WWE’s booking right now that’s difficult to overlook. Nothing actually feels all that important when you boil off some of the hype. Cody doesn't have a glut of challengers aiming to take the title from him, because everyone's far too distracted: 'Oh, look! It's November and Survivor Series is happening. Forget titles. WARGAMES, WARGAMES, WARGAMES!'.
That's coming across loud and clear on TV.
Reed performed admirably against Roman Reigns at both Clash In Paris and Crown Jewel. Hell, he beat the 'OTC' over in Australia at the latter, so a WWE Title shot wasn't out of the question. Regrettably, the promotion just whizzed through that in a 5-minute match with a disqualification finish on SmackDown. They didn't exactly give Bronson's challenge room to breathe here.
Rhodes is at his best when he's out there with someone physically dominant who forces him to dig deep and fight from underneath. Bronson should've been ideal for that sort of thing, but...there wasn't enough time. Sorry to be such a downer on a match that looked ace in theory, but this never really got going before everyone and their granny rushed out to add WarGames garnish.