11 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Dec 4)
9. Take A Drink, Jeff
Speaking of Samoa Joe, he cut an effective little promo on Jeff's personal problems after the bout, following up on last week's successful, feud-starting angle.
With a pint of beer in his hand, Joe taunted his new rival told Hardy he could have 'a dozen of them' if he wanted to. He then advised him to drink responsibly, making a mockery of Jeff's notable struggles with alcohol, while the former United States Champion watched on from the ring, helpless.
This worked in its bubble. Joe is great at making things personal, fast, and after doing that with AJ Styles, he has now accomplished it with Hardy as well. Still, WWE must be careful going forward. The Styles feud jumped the shark when it got too silly towards the end, and there's a danger SmackDown will take the same route with Joe again. That would only undermine this potentially awesome rivalry, leaving it feeling like a parody of the old Hardy vs. CM Punk programme, so let's hope it doesn't happen.