4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (4 July - Results & Review)
Drew McIntyre returns; Trish Stratus in the title picture; SmackDown goes back to 2 hours.
WWE understandably pre-taped this week's episode of SmackDown on Monday alongside Raw so shattered wrestlers and crew members could take some time back after an exhausting trip to Saudi Arabia for Night Of Champions. That was a shrewd management decision by Triple H, and thus the so-so quality of some segments on Friday's show is perhaps excusable. Poor editing and flat dialogue, however are not.
SmackDown returned to its traditional 2-hour formatting here, and that should cut out some of the filler going forwards. Should. Nothing is guaranteed, because it's also true that creative is fudging some elements of the brand that were previously working. The Wyatt Sicks have derailed the hot tag-team division, for example.
On the plus side, a trio of top liners set the (Slim Jim?) table for plenty of killer matches to come in a fun opening segment. There's a lot to unpack from that, and it's legit great to see Drew McIntyre back on TV following his kicking at the hands of Damian Priest a while back. Speaking of comebacks, the legendary Trish Stratus was also on Smackers, and she'll play a major role in the upcoming Evolution PLE.
Other positives include WWE's better use of Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss. They've got something sweet purring in the Women's Tag Title mix, and it's worth keeping an eye on.
So, yeah - not the most essential edition of SmackDown or one for the history books, but the strength of WWE's roster means you're always going to see some good stuff. Here's the best of it, and the worst!