5 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Aug 2)
Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan really sold the threat of Brock Lesnar's revenge...
If there's one thing SmackDown Live needed, it was a strong show to follow on from last week's failure to top what Monday Night Raw had achieved. The red brand knocked it out of the park to mark the beginning of the brand extension, but SmackDown didn't really follow with any real fervour. This week was all about putting that right.
There are still question marks hanging over the validity of Dolph Ziggler as the top challenger for Dean Ambrose and the WWE World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam. Whilst Raw attempts to showcase someone genuinely fresh in Finn Balor, SmackDown's portrayal of Ziggler as a main event talent (following years of false starts) feels a tad bizarre.
Still, those who believe Dolph has always had that sustained top line run in him should be happy, because he was made to look excellent on SmackDown. This came at the expense of another man flirting with the main event pack, but perhaps that's a sacrifice which had to be made.
Let's look at the main positives and most glaring negatives from this week's SmackDown broadcast...