10 Ups & 0 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Jul 24)

6. Stuck In The Middle

Last week's Aiden English/Lana angle took a pounding in this column, but not necessarily for the segment itself. The primary concerns came from Lana's inconsistent Russian-Floridian accent and Rusev's confused alignment, but this week's developments contextualised everything perfectly, and came off well as a result.

Both Lana and English were culpable in the big man's defeat to Andrade Almas. Lana was there to counter Zelina Vega, but if she wasn't there, Aiden would have never crashed into her, and Rusev wouldn't have been distracted. Neither wanted to admit their wrongdoing in the backstage segment that followed, though. They squabbled, and 'The Bulgarian Brute' showed up to separate them, then, with his loyalties still in turmoil, he declared that perhaps neither of his seconds are right for him.

Much like his complicated position on the face/heel alignment scale, Rusev is stuck in the middle between Lana and English. If this is an intentional parallel, then it's a sharp piece of storytelling from the writing team, but it enhances the story regardless. All three parties will emerge from this arc stronger, more assertive, and with a clearer view of where they're going, regardless of the outcome. If that means the end of "Rusev Day," then so be it, because while everyone rightly adores the act, there's no point persisting with it if not as babyfaces.