8 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (10 Sept)
1. Killing Owens
What an absolute f*cking shambles.
Kevin Owens was neutered as a top babyface two weeks ago when the ravaged dog he'd recently become suddenly bowed to his master due to a $100,000 fine levied on him. Rather than rebounding from that, the 'Prizefighter' was taken out back and shot in an appalling angle that saw him kowtowing to Shane McMahon and still getting beaten up and fired (single handedly, no less) despite selling out Chad Gable and his babyface values just a few minutes earlier.
This is worse with Becky Lynch apologising to The Authority to get her WrestleMania match back only to be screwed seconds later, because Owens got the sh*t kicked out of him when he got the shaft.
Yes they're "telling stories" and "let it play out" and all that contrite cr*p, but this is a bad story being told poorly that hasn't earned the patience. Owens, just a month earlier, was a man possessed and seemingly back on track out of nowhere. Succumbing to the whims of his bosses (both on and off screen) yet again, 'KO's eventual redemption will always come with the stench of the sellout he was willing to be before he had no choice.