5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Oct 7)
Triple H shows up; Zelina Vega returns to SmackDown; WWE puts on one HELL of a main event.
Holding a "Season Premiere" for a weekly show that never stops is always slightly funny.
WWE did exactly that on Friday's SmackDown, and the night opened with a fired-up Triple H welcoming everybody to the "beginning". That was a deliberate choice of words, because this era is a new dawn for the entire company at large - not just some faked "premiere" on FOX.
Was it a successful card though? Well, yes, but Trips should be mindful of mistakes Vince McMahon made when looking too far ahead into the distance. It might be best if Logan Paul, for example, is made to look just a little bit better than he was during that otherwise-fine opening segment.
Elsewhere, lazy choices in the tag title hunt and a spot that definitely needed greater context held SmackDown back. Or, more accurately, tried to hold it back. Thankfully, a twin-pack hot return/NXT promotion soared, and the main event Intercontinental Title scrap was yet another hard-hitting effort everyone can be proud of.
Here's all the good and the bad from WWE's last pitstop before Saturday's Extreme Rules.