5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (31 July - Results & Review)
3. ‘We Both NEED This!’
Speaking of valuable acts, it's Sami Zayn!
Both Zayn and his SummerSlam rival Finn Bálor needed this face to face promo and all of the context that came with it. Finn talking about his 10 year journey back to the top titles worked, and so did Sami trying to make it all about him. His subtle digs about it taking Bálor a decade (so the title probably wasn’t for him after all), were excellent.
Finn biting back by pointing out that injury robbed him in 2016 whereas Zayn just lost the title worked too. Better yet, all of this ties in with the SummerSlam PLE because that's where Bálor's arduous tale began 10 years ago. Good stuff all round here, then all hell broke loose with Gunther and Nick Aldis getting involved to sell their own SummerSlam battle.
Let's be honest, Finn isn't the most compelling promo as a babyface, so it was a real positive that he had something meaningful to discuss when kicking off SmackDown. The way Sami then muscled in and tried to make it all about him whilst simultaneously claiming to be "a good guy"? Fabulous. His character work really has been second to none since wrapping up that tepid beef with Trick Williams months ago.
The aggro between Bálor and Zayn would've been enough to jumpstart the show, but then things got really spicy once a certain 'Ring General' showed up. Like Sami, he believes that his name doesn't get enough respect around these parts, and he wanted to assert dominance.