7 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Aug 7)
The BEST TV main event of 2018? Quite possibly...
Although SummerSlam's still feels under-hyped, particularly for a "Big Four" pay-per-view, SmackDown is rolling towards the event at a steady pace, delivering another solid two hours of programming highlighted by one of the year's best TV main events.
The brand's short tag team tournament has been largely successful in producing fun weekly action. The Bar and New Day met in the finals, and delivered a knockdown performance that blew everything the division have done in 2018 away. The winners now face champions The Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam, and Harper and Rowan were in action themselves, delivering a devastating reminder of their destructive capabilities.
Elsewhere, WWE Champion AJ Styles shot back at Samoa Joe's personal assault, an unlikely face tried to insert himself into the United States Title picture, Daniel Bryan went after The Miz, and Aiden English made a pig's ear of his latest attempt at redemption. Oh yeah, there's also the small matter of Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair's increasingly complicated relationship, which feels more and more like Bayley and Sasha Banks every passing week.
A handful of major flaws sullied the episode, but there shouldn't be any doubt that SmackDown is WWE's A-show at the moment...