2 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Dec 29 - Results & Review)

WWE ends 2023 with a 'best of' show that oddly fails to spotlight SmackDown.

Paul Heyman Jimmy Uso
WWE

This is a hard show to recap.

On one hand, it's lovely that Triple H handed WWE's roster some extra time off to spend with their families during the festive season/new year celebrations. On the other, it's fair to say that the company totally phoned in this 'best of' look at SmackDown's 2023.

Being totally honest, the episode wasn't strictly about the blue brand anyway. Like Raw on Monday, it was more an overall look at big matches from WWE's year as a whole. Older fans will recall shorter VHS tapes that released around Christmas time; their job was to showcase a few pay-per-view highlights you might not have paid for live, and they had value for a spell.

Things have changed. Wrestling fans have access to more content than ever before, so it's important to grab people with something worth checking out. Sadly, despite obviously being packaged as filler, it's fair to say that WWE might've offered something that felt like a bonus Christmas gift here.

A few fleeting positives weren't enough to ignore the truth: Triple H's team missed an opportunity to sell just how excellent SmackDown has been at times this year.

Here's all the good and bad!

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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.