6 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Nov 24 - Results & Review)
WWE produced a surprisingly strong episode of SmackDown pre-Survivor Series: WarGames!
WWE's 'go home' episodes can be tricky.
They're either inspired blasts of TV from a creative team with backs pressed firmly against the nearest wall, or they're tepid affairs that offer pretty much nothing new heading into the next PLE. Cheerfully, this week's SmackDown was more former than latter, and the writers deserve credit for that after last week's struggles with women's WarGames setup.
Is the match worthy of that double cage treatment? No, not really, but we're here now. Creative could only try to pull the nose up on things going into Survivor Series, and they managed that on Friday's last-minute push. Incredibly, WWE got brave by playing a game of switcheroo elsewhere on the WarGames card too.
That was unexpected, but it could pan out in the long run and help cement Santos Escobar's heel turn as one of the best in recent memory. The ex-LWO man has been shining on the mic, but now he'll get to showcase his skills in-ring again vs. someone Triple H clearly has high hopes for.
Only a few 'Downs' blight WWE's copybook, which is nice to report. Here's all the good and bad from the company's final stop before hitting Chicago like a bunch of punks! Ahem.