3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (16 Oct - Results & Review)
Cody Rhodes finally flipped the switch on this week's WWE SmackDown, but he isn't heel...yet.
CM Punk referenced his infamous AEW meltdown on this week's episode of WWE SmackDown. The former champ had a tense staredown in the doctor's office with Kevin Owens, then glared at GM Nick Aldis to say he's working with "children". Nothing else of note happened between these guys, but that was worth mentioning.
Neither Punk nor KO won the briefcase at Money In The Bank. Penta did, and it's clear that SmackDown got the raw end of the deal on WWE's latest PLE. That was evidenced by Sami Zayn retreading old ground with Trick Williams and worrying about Raw's Penta cashing in on him here.
This week's show was a bit of a bummer for the company generally. R-Truth went down with a legit injury during his match vs. Damian Priest, Gunther is still having a spat with comedy character Danhausen (for some reason), and Fatal Influence are now playing second fiddle to Jade Cargill and her Baddies again.
On the plus side, Sami's strong character work is enough to save most segments he's involved in, there was a surprise package involving some old foes in the women's division, and Cody Rhodes actually experienced some proper character development in the main event slot.
Randy Orton's reaction to a punt on Baron Corbin was maybe a little OTT, but...wrestling is over the top, and nobody can blame Randy for trying to sell a major story beat.
Here's all the good and bad from the post-MITB edition of a weekly that could trundle on until Crown Jewel then Survivor Series.