4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (23 May - Results & Review)

1. Downside Of John Cena’s Title Reign

R-Truth's struggles should be part of a wider argument against John Cena holding the WWE Title too much longer.

He's largely absent, and that's a real issue when WWE is sending guys through the curtain to carry the load on their own. Somebody like Randy Orton could cover for Cena's absence, but Truth couldn't - not with a live mic inside the ring. Backstage promos are definitely a different animal. This is something Triple H should ponder over the summer months.

Having a WWE Champion who's around even a little more often would be nice, especially when star power is so thin on the ground and the company has three-hour SmackDowns to fill. Assume they don't revert to a shorter format in June. What then? Does Cena continue to make one pit stop per month and that's all? It isn't nearly enough.

Keep in mind that working with R-Truth was 100% John's idea. You'd think then that he'd be up for putting a shift in and making sure parting retirement gifts like this actually fly as part of the weekly product. Apparently not. Nobody's saying that Cena must wrestle matches on every single episode of Raw or SmackDown from here until the end of the year, but he has to be present more often as a TV character.

SmackDown is sorely lacking in the star department these days, and that isn't cool when WWE is continuing to charge through the roof for tickets in 2025. Giving people more for their money should be par for the course.