4 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Sept 5)
Nakamura battles Orton, Dolph makes a scene, and Shane lands in hot water.
One week removed from one of their weakest offerings of the year so far, SmackDown returned to form with a show far closer to their 2017 average last night. A solid offering, its two hours won't live long in the memory, but they provided plenty of enjoyable moments, and set a number of plans in motion for next week.moments, and set a number of plans in motion for next week.
The Shane McMahon/Kevin Owens situation escalated, resulting in the announcement that Vince himself will join the blue brand to personally handle the matter in seven days' time. We're also getting three big title fights next week, with AJ Styles vs Tye Dillinger, The Usos vs. The New Day, and Natalya vs. Naomi all unveiled during the show.
While most of the night revolved around KO vs. Shane, it also featured Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Randy Orton in a big number one contender's bout, Dolph Ziggler's re-debut, and more tension from James Ellsworth and Carmella. It was light on in-ring action (the opening hour featured just over seven minutes of wrestling), but the segments mostly delivered, despite hitting a few speed-bumps along the way.
Whose contributions prompted SmackDown's return to form, and who tried to drag the show down to last week's dismal low? Let's take a look...