6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (June 16)
2. Not Sure This Was Smart
WWE crowds have embraced LA Knight, but he reverted to smart-arsed jock heel on SmackDown. That's fine depending who he's wrestling, but having him opposite Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar was a puzzling decision from the writers. Seriously, who thought this was a solid plan?!
Rey is a beloved legend, and Santos is a rising babyface himself. The shorter length wasn't a huge problem either, but SmackDown could really do with moving away from blink-and-you'll-miss-it matches generally. That's especially true when they appear counterproductive or at odds with recent booking.
LA played heel here like he had to plug a hole on some house show.
Triple H must want people to rally behind Escobar too. Look at the screenshot above for proof of that: Santos is asking for support so he can escape Knight's submission. The presentation of both workers was all over the place, sadly.