3 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Mar 6)

1. Throwing Fastlane Away

Shane McMahon
WWE.com

SmackDown's main event was solid (we'll get to the action in a moment), but it never should've happened.

With AJ Styles, Dolph Ziggler, John Cena, Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn set to wrestle a crowded WWE Championship match on Sunday, SD's writers decided to give their own pay-per-view main event away on free television, sans Big Match John. This is nuts. The booking team's decisions beggar belief at this point, and while we shouldn't be surprised by their flubs anymore, this one is incomprehensible.

Where's the sense in burning your big title match just five days before Fastlane? Anticipation levels were already low, but now, they may as well be at the bottom of the ocean.

There once was a time when go-home shows were among the year's hottest episodes, with WWE going all out to snag their audience ahead of the big event. They're now completely disposable, and there's no hope for recovery under Road Dogg and the SmackDown brain trust.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.