2 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Nov 13)

Downs...

6. A Sudden Title Shot

This writer smiled when Apollo Crews was warring over the United States Title with members of The Hurt Business on Raw. The story wasn't perfect, but it did have some possible twists and turns, and it did have a story to back up decent matches. MVP's spurned attempts to recruit Apollo gave the feud meaning.

So erm, why didn't this IC Title scenario have any of that?

Crews was handed a shot at Sami Zayn's belt without winning any matches to earn it. Then, he lost via count out when the crafty heel got him all sorts of tied up on the underside of the ring. It remains to be seen if this will actually go anywhere, and that's a problem. Surely some sort of pre-match promo wasn't much to ask.

This lacked any attempt at context, which is ridiculous. Apollo swanned in out of nowhere, received a title shot and then lost. The entire segment felt like a waste of Zayn - he desperately needs a good feud to sink his teeth into.