3 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (June 30)

3. Austin Theory Treading Water

Austin Theory
WWE.com

Ridge Holland and Austin Theory tried hard, and yours truly did like Theory attacking the throat as a callback to last week’s Solo Sikoa attack, but this was too middle of the road. Austin has been stuck in third gear since beating John Cena at WrestleMania, and Ridge was never the man to bring him to a boil (homecoming vibes or not).

WWE must find a proper feud for Theory, and fast. He skipped Night Of Champions after working a short program heading into Backlash, and the dude hasn't even been featured much on SmackDown lately. It's rather worrying, especially when this Brawling Brutes mini-program already felt old hat before Friday night.

Again, both men worked hard, but the crowd wasn't there for Ridge. His would-be United States Title challenge (if he won) came totally out of the blue from Adam Pearce as well. The whole story was rushed out the door.

Hmm.

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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.