11 Ups & 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Jul 2)

1. This Is Getting Silly

Rowan Xavier Woods
WWE.com

While there were no unrealistically paced 2-out-of-3 falls matches on last night's SmackDown, WWE's contrivances when it comes to avoiding wrestling during commercial breaks (despite breaking this self-imposed rule on Raw) were apparent in the main event.

Heavy Machinery vs. Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens began in earnest. Everything was going well until a few minutes in, when a fight broke out between The New Day and Rowan/Daniel Bryan at ringside. It was a wild brawl sparked by Big E and Xavier Woods, and the referee, for some reason, decided it was enough to necessitate a restart, despite none of the active participants being involved.

Obviously, this was done to cut the bout for the commercials. It's nonsense, though. A few weeks ago, the solution would've been calling a bunch of backstage officials out to split the fight up rather than restarting the whole thing, but here we are.

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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.