12 Ups & 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Jun 25)

Downs...

6. Yawn

The New Day
WWE.com

The first boxed checked on WWE's list of SmackDown formulae came after Shane McMahon's pre-taped spiel, when The New Day hit the ring for this week's bog standard in-ring talking segment.

Kofi Kingston's promo was fine. He talked about Samoa Joe ambushing him on Raw, the highs and lows of becoming WWE Champion, then put his Extreme Rules opponent over huge. These things can't go off without interruption, though. Out came Dolph Ziggler, who, unsurprisingly, wasn't best pleased with the manner of Kofi's Stomping Grounds victory over him, leading to another whiny-by-design promo and the announcement that he'd face Kingston later on, and get added to the pay-per-view match if he won.

The segment achieved its goal of putting a bout together. That's fine, but we're literally watching the same thing every week. It's tired, boring, and unimaginative, and although these things can be forgiven if the promo and character work is strong enough to transcend the formula, it wasn't in this case.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

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.