3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown: Merry Christmas (Dec 23)
WWE must ditch a Christmas regular; Shayna Baszler gets buried; Bray Wyatt becomes The 'Fiend'.
Did Triple H let a p*ssed up Vince McMahon book SmackDown as a bonus Christmas present, or something?
Sure, Friday's episode was pre-taped last week and such festive editions are often riddled with throwaway fare, but the company may as well have run a 'Best Of 2022' show like they are on Raw here - there was little to shout about other than some Bloodline goodness and Bray Wyatt going crazy.
Any attempts to get Raquel Rodriguez over as some sympathetic babyface are falling just a bit short too. She was booked as a powerhouse who had pretty much everyone's number physically on NXT, and that's continued since she jumped to WWE's main roster. So, it's a hard sell to present her as an underdog fighting against the odds.
It was also depressing to see Shayna Baszler get buried for the millionth time.
This is the sort of dirge that wasn't supposed to happen under Triple H. Christmas special or not, WWE need to realise that their product doesn't really take holidays. Fans tuning in still expect to see something worthwhile, but there wasn't much of it. Here's all the good and bad!