5 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Aug 1)
A heavy in-ring focus results in SmackDown's best show in months.
It has been several months since the last legitimately great episode of WWE SmackDown. The show's quality has dipped significantly in 2017, and while there have been a few highlights throughout the year, the blue brand doesn't often come close to hitting its 2016 highs anymore. Standards have slipped, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to say it's a superior show to Raw these days.
That being said, last night was an absolute triumph. With SummerSlam just over two weeks away, SmackDown built their show around three outstanding singles matches and the promise of crowning Jinder Mahal's latest number one contender. It delivered, and while the episode wasn't without its low points, they weren't significant enough to drag its all-round quality into the mire of mediocrity.
Shinsuke Nakamura and John Cena fought in the night's main event, and the show opened with another United States Title rematch between AJ Styles and Kevin Owens. Elsewhere, new courses were set for Aiden English, Randy Orton, and Rusev, while the women's division engaged in a tag match, and the Fashion Files took a bizarre left turn.
A fantastic night of action, with the positives far outweighing the negatives. How did it all stack up? Let's have a look...