4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Aug 6)
Wrestling takes a backseat; Finn Bálor shows promise; John Cena goes AWOL.
WWE fans in Tampa got to see John Cena work a post-show six-man tag, but viewers watching at home went Cena-less on TV - 'Big Match John' didn't show face on SmackDown, and it now looks like Finn Bálor has already been installed as Roman Reigns' next hurdle after SummerSlam.
That's fine, because everyone knows Finn and Roman will deliver the goods in-ring.
What's not fine is the total lack of solid wrestling people in "Champa" were greeted with. WWE put on six televised bouts throughout Friday's two-hour sprint, but exactly none of them were much use. In fact, this might've been the worst bell-to-bell output on SmackDown in a long-assed time.
Remarkably though, the show was still a fairly easy watch. It's amazing what ditching Raw's third hour can do to a broadcast; SmackDown is living proof that shaving off some time (great wrestling or not) makes everything run smoothly. Still, it would've been nice to see a little more from matches like Bálor vs. Baron Corbin, Dominik Mysterio vs. Jey Uso and The Street Profits vs. Dirty Dawgs.
Here are all the 'Ups' and 'Downs' from the latest effort...