13 Ups & 0 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown

6. You're Outta Here

Shane McMahon Kevin Owens
WWE.com

Such a delight to see genuine assertiveness from Kevin Owens' after the misgivings of the past few weeks, during which he was knocked back several pegs after his awesome rebirth as an anti-Shane McMahon ass-kicker.

The "fired" former 'Prizefighter's' night began with him taking a seat halfway up the bleachers. This led to a backstage segment in which Shane was served legal papers from a random dude before McMahon marched down to the ring with an army of security. Looking up at KO, he said that if Owens has something to say, he should do it in the ring, then revealed that he'd just been served a $25 million dollar wrongful termination lawsuit - the largest in history.

Owens came through with some fire. He ripped into Shane for his recent treatment, claiming that he'd tried to reason, fight, and work with him, and that this was about more than money. As well as taking McMahon's millions from him, he'd added another clause: when KO wins, Shane is gone. Out of here. Fired.

Good. Owens vanquishing Shane from SmackDown has always been this storyline's natural conclusion, and while there's a valid argument that this should have happened after SummerSlam, everything got back on track here. Let's just hope that Shane's own "youre fired" moment isn't drawn out for too long.

Advertisement
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.