10 Ups & 1 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Sept 4)

8. Not The Couple They Were Looking For

Daniel Bryan Brie Bella
WWE.com

We'll get to The Miz and Maryse's games later on, but as usual, SmackDown opened with a solid in-ring setup segment.

Renee Young invited Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella out to start. They showed footage of their enemies' empty arena antics, so the former General Manager let rip, breaking down the duos' characters. "This is a perfect example of who Miz and Maryse are as people," he said. "They attack from behind and call [us] out when no one is around."

When Brie called for a fight, out came Zelina Vega and Andrade Almas, who wanted another crack after last week's non-finish. Vega, as usual, killed it, but 'Cien's' scripted lines didn't come off well at all. Having him yell brief Spanish phrases is fine, but making Almas speak in imperfect English when he has a mouthpiece for that very purpose? Come on, WWE.

This all fed into the opening match, and while the segment was formulaic to a tee, it accomplished what it needed to with minimal fuss.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.