4 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (9 Aug - Results & Review)

2. Let’s See Where This Goes First

Benefit of the doubt is important.

Cody Rhodes palmed off Solo Sikoa saying he deserved a title rematch after Roman's SummerSlam return, then said he'd rather defend against good pal Kevin Owens instead. KO was reluctant, and pointed out that he hadn't been winning enough matches lately to merit a shot. That could've fallen flat very easily.

Admittedly, the match in Berlin will be tepid at best if WWE goes the pure babyface vs. pure babyface road. They've got three episodes of SmackDown to up the ante, and there was a wee bit of tension in the air during Friday's opening segment. Rhodes was borderline condescending when dishing out title shots, and Kev could get mad that Cody views him as a charity case.

Is this the start of a slow burn KO heel turn? Probably not, but it could feed into Randy Orton's inevitable feud with Cody by leaning on the patronising element. That's an interesting plot for the writers to explore, and explore it they certainly should.

Let's see how things pan out before torching the plan.