3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Jan 29)

1. WWE Phoned It In

WWE just seemed to phone it in generally.

SmackDown was as passive a 'go home' episode before a major pay-per-view as you're likely to see. Other than some brief highlights (which we'll get to), there was next-to-no proper hype for the Rumble here. Plus, the multi-man stuff felt lazy and uninspired the longer it went on.

This is a WWE trope they lean on too much before some supershows; again, like Survivor Series, workers just seem to interact for the sake of it. There's more emphasis on the idea that numbers mean something than individual feuds. For example, look at Big E's scuffle with The Miz and John Morrison backstage.

Everyone knows they won't feud after Sunday, and not just because Miz and JoMo are on Raw. Nah, it's more that they each have their own ongoing issues (E with Sami Zayn and the 'comedy squad' with the MITB shenanigans). Thus, it's so damn lazy to pencil them in for a nothing skit on SmackDown.