3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (July 21)

1. An Interesting Result

Rey Mysterio Santos Escobar
WWE.com

LA Knight was clearly everyone's pick to win this second four-way and advance to a match vs. Santos Escobar. Beyond that, most believed LA would take the United States Title from Austin Theory. He still might, but it won't be at SummerSlam. No, WWE has decided to go in a different direction there.

Rey Mysterio vs. Escobar was plucked from thin air as the "final" of this mini-series to determine a new number one contender. Despite being babyface vs. babyface and a battle between stablemates, this is an interesting idea, and a chance for management to see if Santos can sink or swim as a breakout star.

Mysterio will do everything he can to make him look good.

When one stops to think about it, WWE saved Escobar from a no-win situation vs. Knight. He'd have been booed out of the building against LA (YEAH!), so that's a relief. Also, it's possible they'll book a non-finish next week then have Theory defend against two members of the LWO on 5 August.

It all feels interesting and fresh, at least.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more like this, check out 10 Times WWE Totally TROLLED The Universe and 10 Weirdest Ways Wrestlers Got Hired By WWE!

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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.