4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (7 Nov - Results & Review)

3. Fine Open For What It Was

Initially, it did cause an eye roll when Cody Rhodes came out to pander to the crowd and ask them 'what they want to talk about'. There was a sense of been there, done that about the whole affair, but WWE were only making you wait. This wasn't a triumphalist display from the WWE Champ. No, it was a means to elevate somebody into the main event chat.

Yes, Cody really needs to move on from these samey in-ring promos. He’s slick at them, but they’re a chore when he actually has nothing much to say. Thankfully, as hinted at, the neat thing here was that somebody fresh came out to put his name in the hat for a crack at the WWE Title. Aleister Black pointed out that he’d set Damian Priest on fire, then Zelina Vega slapped Cody.

Nick Aldis made the non-title bout official for the headline spot on SmackDown, which suggested that Black must earn a title shot first. Good. This was a solid way to kick off the show, especially because it teased Aleister in the title mix without automatically casting him as some daunting threat to Rhodes just 'cause WWE says so.

Vega was smartly positioned in the middle as a true asset to her man, which she should be. Her slap implied more interference to come later in the evening. In theory, that added another layer on top of the scenario as the commentary team wondered what kind of tricks Black had up his sleeve come bell time.

Unspectacular to start with, but a segment that was definitely well worked.