3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (July 10)

4. Matt Riddle's "Challenge"

At least Sheamus showed face. Matt Riddle, who will challenge AJ Styles for the Intercontinental Title on next week's broadcast, didn't. He was...somewhere, and that left AJ scrambling for decent material when he had nobody to bounce off of in his promo.

There were several flaws here.

Firstly, AJ claimed that Riddle hadn't beaten anyone to merit a shot. That didn't make sense when Riddle has defeated Styles and John Morrison in recent weeks. Secondly, AJ then focused on the brain-cell-destroying narrative about why this incoming NXT worker doesn't wear boots or shoes when he wrestles.

If they're going to make a big deal out of that throughout Riddle's entire SmackDown run, then forget it. He's too talented to be booked that way. Fingers crossed the actual match is better than this lame set-up with a missing challenger and AJ mumbling about footwear.