3 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (June 6)

1. Owens & Nakamura Fall Short Of Expectations

SmackDown’s in-ring standards have definitely slipped since the start of the Superstar Shake-Up. This is a shame, as the brand acquired several of the company’s best all-round wrestlers during the trade window, but they’re not living up to their billing at the moment, and last night’s main event was very disappointing.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kevin Owens should have been great, but it was mediocre at best. Neither man looked like they wanted to break out of second gear, and while the work was solid, they injected no drama, and didn’t even build to an interesting finish. It was as middle of the road as either wrestler will be all year, but at least produced two minor story points: Nakamura pinning Owens again, and Baron Corbin laying him out after the bell.

The match was average, but “average” isn’t good enough from these two in this spot. Fans have come to expect excellence from SD’s main events, but the match felt more like a house show match. Perhaps they’d have delivered a better bout on pay-per-view, but the way Owens and Nakamura sleepwalked through this performance did little to enhance either man ahead of Money In The Bank.