4 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (April 25)

2. Ignoring The Stipulation

Jason Jordan
WWE.com

The New Day are still absent, but it looks like WWE are finally doing something with SmackDown's lacking tag team division regardless. They attempted to crown number one contenders' for The Usos' championships by booking the brand's other active teams (American Alpha, The Colons, The Ascension, and Breezango) in a set of Beat The Clock challenges last night, with Alpha vs. The Colons up first.

The two teams worked a perfect acceptable midcard airtime-filler match, but unfortunately, it was completely devoid of the urgency you'd expect from a contest of this ilk. They did little to sell that idea that time was of the essence, particularly during The Colons' heat segment, and this produced a bout that didn't play to its stipulation at all.

Alpha scored the victory in just over five minutes, giving them revenge for their loss to The Colons last week. Unfortunately, they're still very much lost in the shuffle on SmackDown, and this match did nothing to rebuild their status. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable are excellent wrestlers, but they're still not getting over with the crowd, and flat matches like this do nothing to change that.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.