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

3. Lifeless Backstage Skits

Santos Escobar Legado del Fantasma LWO
WWE.com

As aforementioned, WWE pre-taped this week's SmackDown.

Normally, that means an episode will be crammed with backstage skits and lots of time-killing exercises like recaps or ads. The company certainly went heavy on the pre-taped backstage stuff. Understandably so, but most didn't actually achieve anything or push stories forwards.

Exceptions could be Legado del Fantasma's attack on the LWO, or Dakota Kai getting injured and blaming Damage CTRL for it (thus getting Bayley onside a little). Everything else? Nah, it was painfully dull. There was a show-long thread of Roman Reigns looking to get a word with Grayson Waller. Thrilling.

WWE has a nasty habit of expecting the roster to work miracles with paper-thin material when they're pre-taping. As a result, those tasked with talking don't have much to say. This show definitely could've done with cutting a few of these segments in favour of more match time in-ring.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.