3 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (June 30)
An energetic UK crowd did WWE some big favours on SmackDown before MITB.
It's amazing what a fired up and passionate live wrestling crowd can do.
London was ready for some WWE action this weekend, and they did Triple H/Vince McMahon/the creative team at large some massive favours by being rowdy throughout SmackDown. Hell, the promotion only had to break out the magical piped-in crowd noise once; or, at least, it was only really noticeable during one segment.
Overall, this wasn't a must-see episode. Sure, Roman Reigns was in the house for some build towards his Bloodline "Civil War" tag-team bout, and WWE did hype up the men's Money In The Bank ladder match. However, there was nothing you needed to go out of your way to see. This was as basic as a 'go home' show's gonna get, incredible audience aside.
That's not to say The Bloodline stuff wasn't great, because it was. Several others let the side down badly though. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka was a miserable disappointment considering their previous matches, and the general preamble before MITB could use something new.
Here's all the good and bad on the final stop before that PLE lands in the same arena on Saturday night.