16 Things You Might Have Missed From Last Night’s WWE SmackDown

by Jamie Kennedy

1. AJ Styles & Shinsuke Nakamura Worked A Dark Match

AJ Styles Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE

WWE are making a habit out of this "not medically cleared to compete" gimmick. It has become an easy story device over the past few weeks, and it's understandable when creative want to give fans an excuse for why certain wrestlers aren't on the show.

It doesn't work when those wrestlers then work a post-show dark match in front of the same crowd who, a few hours earlier, were told they were injured.

That happened this week with AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura. In promos (both of which were shown on the big screen to the live audience), the pair revealed that doctors wouldn't clear them to wrestle. A few hours later, they were in a heated WWE Title match once SmackDown's cameras stopped rolling.

WWE are undermining their own stories with this kind of behaviour.

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What other little nuances, hidden gems and Easter eggs did you spot on this week's SmackDown? Let us know down in the comments section below!

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Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.