11 Ups & 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Jun 18)

Rollins and Kingston joined forces, but Bayley and Bliss stole the show.

by Andy H Murray
Seth Rollins Kofi Kingston
WWE.com

SmackDown hit Ontario, California's Toyota Arena for last night's Stomping Grounds go-home show, and with the blue brand feeling more like Raw's baby brother with every passing week, the hype levels were almost as low as they are for Sunday's rematch-heavy B-tier pay-per-view.

The good news? Last night was a clear step forward from the previous week's tedium. The bad news? SmackDown still wasn't anywhere near as enjoyable as it was before WrestleMania 35, with Raw recaps and repeat angles hampering the viewing experience though, as always, your mileage may vary.

Xavier Woods was booked to face Dolph Ziggler ahead of 'The Show-Off's' second WWE Championship match with Kofi Kingston this weekend, yielding the usual in-ring talking segment to kick things off. There was no sign of Roman Reigns after his feud with Shane McMahon and his goons intensified on Raw, though The Miz was ready to fill in for him, teaming with R-Truth to face Elias and Drew McIntyre. Elsewhere, Alexa Bliss welcomed Bayley to A Moment of Bliss ahead of their SmackDown Women's Championship clash, Heavy Machinery's rise through the tag division continued, and Seth Rollins brought his chair-swinging rampage to Tuesday nights.

Let's dive into it.

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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.