7 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (6 Dec - Results & Review)
New tag champs crowned; Kevin Owens attacks Cody Rhodes; WWE's "Transfer Window" announced.
Forget Rikishi, because Kevin Owens is WWE's best 'Bad Man'.
There was a lot to like on this week's SmackDown if you enjoy character advancement, fun angles and great wrestling. Triple H's team served up all three, and the most amazing thing is that this would've been considered a possible down week for the blue brand going in. WWE is coming off Survivor Series: WarGames, so knowledge that Roman Reigns probably wouldn't be there could've been a turn off to some.
Anyone skipping the show because of that missed out. KO brought back a story from Bash In Berlin, Johnny Gargano joined Tommaso Ciampa's heel crusade by cruelly cheating to win the Tag-Team Titles, Chad Gable looked like the second coming of Kurt Angle yet again, and two women's division matches totally ruled. Go out of your way to watch Bianca Belair vs. Piper Niven. Seriously.
One of the bigger stories coming out of Smackers is this new fangled "Transfer Window". Let's call it what it is: It's a different name for the superstar shakeup, and it's rather unnecessary given WWE barely pays attention to their own Draft rules as it is. That was one of three 'Downs' from this week's show - the other pair were admittedly minor, and might actually be one writer grumbling about next to nothing. You can make your own minds up on that.
Opinions are opinions though. Even those minor gripes couldn't stop SmackDown from being another excellent way to spend two hours. The program moved with a pleasing zip, and the mix of top storytelling with solid wrestling action really worked. Sometimes, Trips makes this booking stuff look easy, eh?
Here's all the good and bad.