12 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (13 Aug)

1. Of COURSE This F*cking Ruled

Well, duh.

Roman Reigns vs. Buddy Murphy was awesome. The epitome of a modern TV banger, it was an elevated version of those great Murphy Cruiserweight Championship matches, only with a beefier opponent. In 'The Big Dog,' Buddy had an opposite number capable of slugging with him, and slug they did, breaking out all manner of big bombs throughout a beautifully competitive clash.

Buddy paid tribute to Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega at one point, first blasting Reigns with a transitional version of the latter's V-Trigger, followed by a Kamigoye, then a Brainbuster into a pin attempt. Earlier, his spectacular Meteora got another close two. This was a theme throughout the match, with Reigns giving his opponent boatloads of offence in his first TV match since joining SmackDown, ensuring that even in defeat, Murphy got over (no mean feat in today's WWE).

In 14 minutes, Murphy was allowed to show almost everything that makes him such an explosive proposition between the ropes. He absolutely deserves better. More matches of this calibre will go a long way to establishing him on SD, though he had the ideal opponent in Reigns: an underrated athlete and a strong action fighter who spaces his big spots out like the elite Sports Entertainer he is.