4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Sep 17)

by Jamie Kennedy

1. Seth Rollins Spitting Truths

Seth Rollins
WWE.com

Pro wrestling villains are at their best when they seem to believe some of the lines they're spewing. Seth Rollins is no different - he's veered into cartoonish territory over the past year or so, so it's good to bring him back down to earth every now and then by scripting some realistic dialogue.

On SmackDown, Seth blamed fans for goading Edge into goading him. He brought up old digs like "Edge-lite" and the fact that his nemesis gave him a blood (black goo?) bath before SummerSlam. It was obvious that Rollins found it easy to jive with what his character was saying here, and that helped make his promo stronger.

It's not easy to fill 10+ minutes of screen time on the mic in front of today's fanbase, but Seth managed it. This was all he and WWE's writers could do due to Edge's injury angle and brief sabbatical. It furthered the story nicely by reinforcing Seth's lack of empathy.

Good stuff.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more wrestling, check out WWE 2K22: 10 Things GM Mode Must Get Right and 17 Things You Probably Missed From WWE Raw (Sep 13)!

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Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.