1 Up & 6 Downs From WWE SmackDown (11 July - Results & Review)

3. Not Sure Where R-Truth Fits Into This Now

Damian Priest Aleister Black
WWE.com

What a weird decision to give Truth a 2-minute win over Aleister Black when Black is being built for a feud opposite Damian Priest.

Aleister did get some of his heat back by attacking Priest backstage when Damian encouraged him to “let it go” and move on, but something felt off about this whole deal. Truth, despite the win, still has next to no direction going on other than third wheeling a promising rivalry, and he seems to have all but given up on his relentless pursuit of John Cena.

Also, Truth wandering around oblivious to the fact that Black was about to paste him backstage was like a throwback to his delusional 'where am I this week?' character pre-release. WWE crowds have stopped treating him like a big deal too, but that's only due to Triple H's inconsistent booking. Is he a threat who has changed his mindset, or is he just a veteran who gets lucky from time to time?

Here, it was the latter. There was nothing convincing about Truth springing a surprise on Aleister then wandering around backstage like he'd accidentally walked through the wrong door and got lost. Priest standing up for somebody he viewed as a nuisance in Judgment Day will need some work - that isn't doing Damian any favours either.

All in all, this was a bit of a missed opportunity to have Truth take some of Black's best strikes and still keep coming. They weren't given nearly enough time to produce anything worthwhile, and that's a crying shame.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.