4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (30 May - Results & Review)
John Cena's retirement tour sags in the middle; NXT stars help WWE SmackDown.
Unpredictable MVP alert.
No, not AEW's Montel Vontavious Porter. NXT's very own Ethan Page was an unforeseen highlight on this week's episode of WWE SmackDown, and all the guy did was join commentary then poke his nose into a tag-team match. Page's performance would've impressed all the right people backstage though - he was really, really good throughout, and the guy came across as a real star.
There was plenty of star power in the 'main event segment'. Cody Rhodes returned to the blue brand for the first time since WrestleMania 41, and he was joined by Jey Uso, John Cena and Logan Paul. Unfortunately, all four hit a snag en route to their tag bout at Money In The Bank. There's just something painfully uninteresting about the whole thing, and it pales in comparison to say...Cody hunting down revenge on Cena to regain his title.
On the plus side, two matches hit the heights, Damian Priest set his stall out for a welcome title challenge, and there was more emotional goodness between fractured friends. Bianca Belair and Naomi worked wonders way back on the 7 March edition of SmackDown pre-'Mania, and they were at it again on this week's show. That live crowd in Knoxville was super-into seeing them butt heads.
Soon, people. Soon.
Reports spread this week that WWE and USA Network plans to persist with these 3 hour episodes of the show. This week's offering was almost an argument for returning to the old 2-hour format. No, that's not a compliment. Here's all the good and bad!