3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Sept 16)
Logan Paul = WWE main-eventer; Triple H books like Vince McMahon; WWE Title match set.
Logan Paul will work Roman Reigns' next match.
The celeb-turned-full-timer impressed a lot of folks with his performances at WrestleMania 38 and SummerSlam - the latter, vs. The Miz, was arguably even better because Paul didn't have the crutch of a tag-team partner to lean on. Now, he jumps from that first singles showing into an Undisputed Title bout opposite the best all-rounder in the industry. No pressure then!
LP certainly didn't seem to be feeling any (or, at least, didn't show it) during his promo on SmackDown, but there's no doubt creative could've done a bit more to make the moment special. That wasn't the only baffling decision on the broadcast, sadly. Some familiar, pesky booking tropes are still popping up post-Vince McMahon.
Triple H is trying to present a fresh take on WWE's tired product, at least, and he deserves some credit for it. Despite that, this week's show didn't hit the heights of recent weeks. In fact, it didn't really come close and definitely felt like a second-rate episode you could catch up on via YouTube highlights.
Here's all the good and bad.