4 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Oct 31)
2. Masking The Problems
If giving Baron Corbin the United States title and clean wins over Tye Dillinger and AJ Styles wasn't to actually reverse the rot that set in during his feud with John Cena, why did WWE even bother?
His recent feud with Sin Cara has mirrored his rancid 2016 bullying-the-luchador story with Kalisto. That feud concluded with a chairs match, whereas this lifeless rivalry seems destined for the back seat.
When WWE announced that 'The Lone Wolf' would take on The Miz in the battle of secondary champions at Survivor Series, the audience at large recoiled in horror at the potential disaster that lay in wait. Many felt, with some regret, that the 'A-Lister' may be dethroned in order to furnish a new clash at the event, but might WWE be thinking the opposite?
That's the only possible justification for Corbin coming nowhere near conclusively battering Cara after weeks of these tepid tussles. A battle between them that actually ends in the ring looked nailed on as a Corbin squash, but his recent difficulties with the former 'Lucha Dragon' have already made his Survivor Series encounter look something of a Mizmatch. Even in eventual victory, he's yet again the loser.