10 Awesome Things Happening In WWE Right Now

5. SmackDown Is Slowly Recovering

The Miz
WWE.com

SmackDown was pretty damn good in 2016, but was raided so thoroughly in the Superstar Shake-Up that it stuttered badly for a few weeks.

The show isn't immune to trademark WWE stupidity. AJ Styles just defeated Dolph Ziggler last night, even though Ziggler managed to beat him cleanly last week in virtually double the time. That said, there is much to savour on the blue brand. After a dire start, Shinsuke Nakamura is slowly wrestling his way to prominence. His main event with Kevin Owens this week was a choice TV match. The Women's division, anchored by the Welcoming Committee faction, continues to overshadow RAW with ease. The Usos are doing the best work of their career. You could almost see the confidence pouring out of them when they ran down The New Day in the aftermath of their bout with The Colons ("get 'im!").

Mojo Rawley has even less business wrestling a non-title match than Jinder Mahal does wearing the title, but somehow, the freshness just about compensates for the incongruity.

SmackDown is still far removed from the Chris 'Kringle' Kreski, presents-for-everyone glory days of 2000 - Erick Rowan was presumably tending to his vineyard this week - but the show has rediscovered its groove of maximising most everybody on the unassuming roster...

In this post: 
The Miz
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!