5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (July 24)
Trying to raise the bar by lowering the tone.
If you've ever wanted to see Jeff Hardy pelt a cowering Sheamus with basketballs, then SmackDown was the show for you.
One must measure expectations when it comes to watching WWE's product. Going in thinking logic will be watertight and every decision will have meaning only results in disappointment. That's especially true when it comes to pre-taped brawls like Friday's 'Bar Fight' sketch.
At the same time, some booking is absolutely infuriating and totally undermines all the good. Sometimes, that even happens in the same segment, which barely makes any sense; why would the folks writing these angles do something well and then immediately scupper their own hard work by contradicting the purpose a few minutes later?
There's a reason why the 'Ups' and 'Downs' are so close this week. For every positive SmackDown threw up, there was a negative lurking around the next corner to make viewers feel like a fool if they did emotionally invest in what was going on.
Through all that, it wasn't a bad show. In fact, this week's episode had some smart stuff that made the two hours whizz by...