4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (25 Sept - Results & Review)

SmackDown's main event scene is on such a hot roll that it barely even needed reigning WWE Champ and sneaky heel Sami Zayn this week. CM Punk, Gunther and Finn Bálor were there to hold down the fort whilst Sami continued fending off accusations from Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae by bagging them Money In The Bank qualifiers.

Elsewhere, Cody Rhodes is still toying with the fanbase over a possible heel turn, but he snuck in a Four Horsemen reference instead of a Paul Heyman one during his promo on Friday night. Realistically, Randy Orton had already done much of the heavy lifting for Cody earlier, so WWE blatantly just wanted to get the 'American Nightmare' out in front of the live crowd.

Fair enough, but that came at the expense of letting television content breathe.

For some reason, Gunther is clowning around with Danhausen backstage (sort of), and Triple H believes that a Nikki Bella who hasn't worked one great singles match since returning is the right pick to get the best from Women's Champ and popular babyface Chelsea Green. Those are notable downsides for SmackDown, but the show is never less than watchable overall these days - that headline pack is scorching too.

Steel cages! Triple Threats! Nick Aldis making matches that were previously made but didn't happen! OK, so not everything is shiny and positive on the blue brand, but WWE is marching towards the next PLE nicely. Here's all the good and bad from the latest slice of TV.