11 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (3 Sept)
2. Brawl With Elias
Above all else, the revived King of the Ring tournament has succeeded as a guaranteed source of great weekly matches on WWE television. Raw saw the much-maligned and much-improved Baron Corbin work out of his skin versus Cedric Alexander. Here, another unfashionable wrestler met an athletic wonder as Elias battled Ali, with 'The Drifter,' like Corbin, delivering a performance way above his old batting average.
Stifling Ali's explosiveness was always going to be Elias' most obvious route to victory. Such layouts usually result in a tedious, grinding match layout, but not here, with effective pacing and spots like Ali nailing a 450 to Elias' arm (hi there, Robbie Eagles) keeping things exciting. If there's a better Elias singles match, this columnist can't recall it off the top of his head.
Ali tried to put Shane McMahon's stooge away with his 054 towards the end. He missed and Elias' earlier knee-work paid off, with the brawler crushing the joint once more then hitting Drift Away for the WWE. Afterwards, the big bell-end played guitar from the King of the Ring throne. Let's hope he delivers a similar performance against Chad Gable.