4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (April 23)
Cesaro gets bumped; Aleister Black's "new" gimmick; SmackDown goes heavy on wrestling.
Well, that didn't last very long.
Cesaro was bumped from the Universal Title challenger slot on this week's SmackDown, at least for now. Instead, it's his good pal Daniel Bryan who will meet Roman Reigns for the belt on the next episode - WWE also added the stipulation that Bryan must leave Smackers for good if he comes up short.
Hmm.
It feels churlish to whine about Reigns vs. Bryan, because everyone knows they'll deliver, but why have WWE decided to make Cesaro look second rate again? Sadly, that wasn't the only problem with Roman's challenge to DB. These niggling issues conspired to sully some of the good that happened on Friday night, and that made SmackDown a mixed bag.
The overall emphasis on solid wrestling was nice, but missed opportunities and the injection of unwanted comedy into what should be a serious title feud elsewhere didn't work. Although SmackDown is rarely outright bad, WWE should be mindful not to make too many false promises week-to-week.
Here are all the 'Ups' and the 'Downs' from the latest wrinkles on the road to WrestleMania Backlash...