3 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Feb 13)

3. Triple Threat, Triple Tedium

Bobby Roode emerged halfway through the show, announcing the return of the United States Champion open challenge series. A good idea, as this produced a number of fun, exciting match-ups during John Cena's 2015 run, though WWE will have to get creative. Nobody wants to see old Bobo face Mojo Rawley again.

A week ago, Randy Orton struck 'The Glorious Down' with an RKO (outta nowhere, obviously), so Roode called him out. 'The Viper' emerged, but guess who followed? Jinder bloody Mahal.

A dull pissing contest broke out, with all three questioning each other's credentials without any originality, and soon, a brawl erupted. Sunil Singh ate an RKO, but it was 'The Modern Day Maharaja' standing tall in the end. He laid both Orton and Roode out with the Khallas, and while it originally looked like we were getting Bobby vs. Randy for the title, a Triple Threat now seems the obvious outcome.

This is disappointing, as we're already heading towards another multi-man bout for the WWE Championship. Again, SmackDown's writers have let them themselves down with their complete inability to think laterally, and the segment wasn't even compelling enough to compensate, with nobody offering an engaging promo.