4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (12 Dec - Results & Review)

3. Mixed Tag = Missed Opportunity

There was nothing technically wrong with the mixed tag main event, but surely this was a missed chance to vindicate everything Aleister Black and Zelina Vega have been saying since joining forces? Why WWE felt the need to torch them in favour of a win for Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley when they definitely didn’t need one and aren’t a regular double act these days anyway is puzzling.

Rhea’s work got pops, but she’s another who has been spinning her wheels for a while now.

A potentially nasty Code Red botch didn’t help Ripley or Vega’s sequence either. You've got to be glad they’re alright though, because that looked sore for both. Hmm, this writer has got to be honest: SmackDown's headliner was all very house show and not in the good way. Sometimes, that live event feel can work out well and translate well to TV, but not here.

Worse, the result sends some compelling heels into creative purgatory, so it was pointless. Black and Vega look incapable of getting the job done. The fireball they sent into Damian's eye didn't keep him benched for long enough, and all it took was Priest whistling over to his Terror Twin pal to come and crack some skulls. Al and Zelina folded like wet paper towels at the first sign of a challenge.

The other annoying thing is that Damian and Rhea didn't have to win this. Like, there's no upside to them emerging victorious unless it leads to something. Sadly, this came across as the natural end point for the feud rather than a speed bump for the baddies.