4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (28 Aug - Results & Review)
Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes get personal; SmackDown's midcard needs work; Sami Zayn ruins all!
CM Punk yelled about "justice" as he peppered Sami Zayn with some stiff shots towards the end of SmackDown's main event. Neither man was supposed to be involved, but an outraged Zayn and revenge-fuelled WWE Champion couldn't resist getting their licks in as Kevin Owens vs. Gunther vs. Finn Bálor raged inside the ring. That made for a hot closing quarter hour on this week's show.
It was obvious from watching SmackDown that the live crowd were spent. They'd sat through an exhausting marathon taping, and that meant some segments on the blue side played before almost total silence. WWE sweetened things by adding in some cheers or boos where appropriate, but thankfully didn't go too overboard with the piped in noise. Remember those old, 'Oooooo-waaaaah' sounds they used on pre-taped SmackDowns for years?! Those were brutally bad.
Speaking of "brutally bad", some of the Friday night midcard needs some heavy reworking. The women's division is a bit of a struggle again despite Chelsea Green's best efforts (there's only so much she can do in the face of poor booking), the United States Title situation is a nightmare, and there are far too many characters running around with nothing meaningful to do.
Thank the wrestling lords for the main event scene then. This is one of the most ultra-competitive WWE Title mixes one can remember - Punk is champ, and check out this crew chasing him: KO, Bálor, Sami Zayn, Gunther, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. That's stacked, which is helping to compensate for some of SmackDown's lesser elements.
Here's all the good and bad.