3 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (21 Aug - Results & Review)

Ups...

3. Playing The Long Game On This

Sami Zayn has to be repeatedly ranting at Nick Aldis for a reason. There’s been a simmering tension between them for a while now, just like there was between Aldis and Gunther before they clashed at SummerSlam. Zayn vs. Aldis could be tons of fun longer term. Why not, eh? Aldis showed that he has plenty of gas in the tank against the 'Ring General', and he wouldn't be as obviously outmatched against Sami anyway.

This could be one to watch heading into the latter portion of the year.

Think of Zayn vs. Aldis as some sort of 'in emergency break glass' scenario for creative. They don't need to go all in on it right now, 'cause Sami is very much in the WWE Title scene and doesn't need to be fighting the General Manager right this second. However, in a couple of months? Sure. Or, maybe this could be something Triple H keeps in his back pocket for WrestleMania 43. Stranger things have happened.

Plaudits must go to both men for the way they handled this piece of business on SmackDown though. Zayn wouldn't let the GM get a word in even after asking him questions, and Nick was cutting an increasingly exasperated figure as he sighed his way through the promo. Then, Randy Orton showed up to feed into the Cody Rhodes stuff in the follow up segment. It was all incredibly slick stuff.

Playing the long game on match like Sami vs. Aldis sounds like the best way to go about things.