4 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Aug 7)
A largely rough, illogical show ends with a bang.
The first thing fans tuning into this week's SmackDown saw was Bray Wyatt blaming Braun Strowman for his 'Fiend' attacking Alexa Bliss. Fittingly, after Bray was done cutting through the Universal Champ's morality with typical impish charm, the last thing those same people watched was new heel faction Retribution literally using a chainsaw to cut through WWE's ring ropes.
It was a seductive visual that hints at more madcap mayhem to come.
Speaking of which, SmackDown's booking was a tad madcap itself. Last week's show was notable for the company going hard on pushes for Big E and Naomi, as well as a memorable closing angle (that aforementioned 'Fiend' one). Only one of the pushes was furthered on Friday night's latest though, and there was some wobbly storytelling elsewhere.
Details sometimes don't seem as important to WWE as they should be. They've also got an alarming habit of mixing multiple stories that don't fit, and that only hurts both when the purpose should be to help sell them as important.
Here are all the 'Ups' and 'Downs' from an...up and down episode.