5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (May 14)
WWE crowns new champs; Shinsuke Nakamura becomes SmackDown royalty; Cesaro dominates.
Cesaro has dominated Roman Reigns' squad for the second week in a row.
WWE smartly left things hanging in the balance as SmackDown's 'go home' before WrestleMania Backlash went off the air. Roman Reigns got some licks in on his challenger before Cesaro stood tall, and the company even found time to add a new wrinkle to the ongoing family drama involving Jimmy and Jey Uso.
The show wasn't quite on par with last week's effort ('Throwback' set aside), but it's worth saying that SmackDown is just such an easy watch - it's like the lack of a third hour makes things so much easier for WWE's creative team. Everything flows, most segments get room to breathe and there are always some solid matches too.
Sadly, the 'Downs' explored within reveal some minor pitfalls in company storytelling. Someone needs to start putting a hand up backstage to point out that borderline reversing the previous segment's hard work might not be the best strategy.
On the plus side, the blue brand's roster seems motivated, and WWE seem only-too-happy to give some of the best workers enough time between the ropes. Here's all the good and the bad from Sunday's lead-in...