3 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Jun 26)

2. Missed Opportunity

New Day Lucha House Party
WWE.com

Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura are clearly being readied for a shot at New Day's SmackDown Tag-Team Titles come Extreme Rules. That's fine - both teams will work well together, and it's genuinely lovely to see two heels who have been following others around for the longest time do something for themselves.

SmackDown did miss quite the opportunity to make them look stronger however, and it happened right after the eight-man tag win Lucha House Party secured for their squad. Earlier, Kofi Kingston and Big E had brawled to the back with their would-be challenger, but sprinted back out following the decision to celebrate.

Huh?

That made it seem like New Day had handled Cesaro and Shin easily backstage, and still had enough energy to rush back out (bang on time) to glad-hand with Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado. This hardly made Cesaro and Nakamura look strong, or like a real threat to the belts.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.