4 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Oct 24)
2. Momentum Must Die
50/50 booking is awful. Why? Just look at the past two nights of programming.
Finn Balor's TLC victory over AJ Styles was huge, and made him feel like a genuine megastar for the first time since returning six months ago. How did the company follow up? By having him lose a dismal match to the elderly Kane.
The same goes for Sami Zayn, who notched an unlikely pinfall on Randy Orton last week, cementing his status as a major player. WWE, in all their wisdom, decided to book a rematch this week, and instead of continuing the incredible momentum Zayn has built since turning heel, they decided to derail all their good work by having 'The Viper' get his win back.
It wasn't a clean finish, and the match itself was actually pretty good, but the outcome sucks. Nobody can ever hope to get over in this company if they aren't allowed to build any momentum, and forward motion is impossible with 50/50 booking. That's not to say Sami isn't salvageable, but why go to all the bother of reinventing a wrestler, heating him up, and giving him a big win only to snatch it all away again?
The problem isn't SmackDown-specific, but it crushed what should've been a great main event last night, ending the show on a low note.