3 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (17 Oct - Results & Review)

2. They Did This Again? Really?!

Firstly, the menace shown by Solo Sikoa and his MFTs was great elsewhere. They interrupted a photoshoot with Rey Fenix and beat him up just because they could, then Sikoa's troops (complete with returning face paints) laid out Fenix, Sami Zayn and Ilja Dragunov later in the night. At that point, once Solo had grabbed the mic and warned that his family runs SmackDown, they looked badass.

Cue The Wyatt Sicks.

A quick video by the absent Bo Dallas played on the tron, then Nikki Cross, Erick Rowan, Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis appeared on the ring apron behind MFT. This was a rinse and repeat of last week's booking, but then things got worse. Technically, it looked like Sikoa was running away from Nikki more than anything. She was the one he was looking at when he encouraged his team to back off.

Their reluctance to start throwing punches made no sense considering they'd just taken out 3 other stars to make a statement. So, the Sicks monotony continues. Even the crowd’s “HOLY S***” chant felt a little more halfhearted this week. There was no call for running a repeat on this confrontation without any physicality, there really wasn't.

Then, on top of that repetition, Solo seemed to fill his drawers at the prospect of Cross more than Rowan, Gacy or Lumis. That'd be acceptable had Nikki been shown to be a difference maker in recent weeks/months, but that hasn't been the case. Making Sikoa and the MFT faction look dangerous then cowardly within the span of a few minutes really was a poor choice.