11 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (3 Sept)

by Andy H Murray

1. Is Chad Gable Winning King Of The Ring?

Andrade Chad Gable
WWE.com

If you're only going to watch one thing from last night's SmackDown, make sure it's Andrade vs. Chad Gable. This thing was fantastic. Fast-paced, action-packed, and concise at just eight minutes long, its colour and technicality had the flavour of an old SmackDown Six match - and not just because 'El Idolo' hit the Three Amigos.

Matches like this would ideally form the blueprint for WWE's TV formula going forward. When we ask for better quality bouts, this is the goal. 15-to-20-minute Raw and SmackDown scraps are problematic because they put undue strain on the wrestlers' bodies and are inevitably gutted by ads, making these shorter matches a more realistic goal. The roster is more than talented enough to get a lot done in less than 10 minutes anyway.

A match carried primarily by adrenaline came to ahead when Andrade hit has gnarly back elbow, went to finish Gable, but found himself leveraged into a smart, switched-on pin from Gable. How is it that WWE are getting Chad so right inside the ring but so wrong away from it? Who knows, but this bout ruled.

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Channel Manager
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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.