4 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Sept 5)

1. Flogging A Dead Horse

Dolph Ziggler finally made his grand re-debut after two weeks’ of build last night, continuing the meta ‘I’m under-used’ narrative that he has been furthering since returning to television. Unfortunately, it was just as hideous as the previous weeks suggested.

‘The Show-Off’ called himself the greatest performer in WWE history, stating that the crowd don’t appreciate him, and that “they just want some dumb gimmick.” This prompted him to walk back out to John Cena’s music, then mock his entrance, with Randy Savage and Naomi getting the same treatment a few moments later, and it went down like a lead balloon.

The segment died. Ziggler’s trying hard, but the material is complete trash, and while it makes sense that Dolph’s character would be unhappy with his role in the company, we’ve been hearing this kind of stuff from him for years. Mocking the other roster members puts a different spin on it, but the “I’m so held back” shtick lost its appeal several years ago, and while this act is designed to make fans care about Ziggler again, it looks like a lost cause.