4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (28 Aug - Results & Review)
3. A Promo Train Worth Seeing
Kevin Owens came out to kick off the show and add emotional weight to Sami Zayn costing him the match vs. CM Punk last week. According to KO's speech, his mother had travelled to watch the show despite going through health problems, then Sami ruined everything for him. It was supposed to be a perfect moment until that darn El Generico stuck his beak in.
Interrupting, but probably fairly due to the fact Kev kept bringing him up, Punk then walked out to get in KO’s face. They didn't get the chance to come to blows though, because Gunther and Finn Bálor followed. Sure, this was all fairly standard WWE promo train stuff you've seen a hundred times or more, but it did lead to Nick Aldis making a Triple Threat main event: Owens vs. Gunther vs. Bálor; winner gets a crack at the WWE Title.
It was worth watching for that announcement, Kev’s emotional context involving his mum and Gunther being a top class heel. The strength of the characters involved carried this one, and sometimes there's nothing wrong with that. Actually, it's a blessing for the writing team to know they've got personalities so powerful they can make magic out of paper thin material. That's not meant as an insult to the actual scripting here, or anything, but it's another observation.
This is a tremendously robust main event scene on SmackDown right now, and that's awesome to see. Long may it continue, and long may Owens continue adding real human depth/realism to his storylines.