2 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (31 Oct - Results & Review)

Downs...

5. Rough Start For Carmelo’s Babyface Run

Carmelo Hayes vs. Kit Wilson didn't stand a chance. They were thrown out there after the United States Title match, and it became clear immediately that the live crowd was still coming down from Dragunov vs. Frazer. On top of that, fans don’t really seem to see Hayes as a baby worth rooting for quite yet. His turn was sudden and didn't carry that much context, so it's understandable.

You've really got to fear for Kit without his Pretty Deadly tag-team partner too. Short and not very sweet match here. It wasn’t technically poor, but there just isn’t much going on with the whole toxic masculinity thing Wilson has been shouting about, and Melo isn’t hot as a face on his own merits yet.

That made for a strange atmosphere, almost like this was taking place on Main Event not SmackDown.

The Miz attacked his old pal mid-match, then he hit "Him" with a Skull Crushing Finale afterwards. Hopefully, things heat up nicely between them. In the interim, keeping Kit involved by recasting him as a would-be protege of Miz, or something like that, wouldn't be the worst idea. Without a story to sink his teeth into or a character to piggy back on who's more over, Wilson could be in trouble as a solo act.

It's easy to get what they were going for here, but it was a real swing and a miss. Next time, if WWE want to hear cheers/boos instead of silence, then they really need to start fleshing these stories and characters out. Also, card formatting matters. Just saying.