4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Aug 6)

1. There Were NO Good Matches

Finn Balor Baron Corbin
WWE.com

Every single one of the six bouts offered on SmackDown fell short of the mark. They were brief, admittedly, but none of them felt truly consequential (perhaps other than Nakamura bagging himself an IC Title shot) or must-see. If anything, the standard was shockingly low.

That's very unlike SmackDown.

Anybody who has tuned into the show during the FOX era knows they're guaranteed some fine wrestling, 'cause there are just too many damn good workers on the roster to suck. Take a bow then, blue brand roster/agents/creative - you managed to do what this guy thought was impossible. You managed to put on a half-dozen duds.

Browse the 'Ups' section and you'll see that promos were strong this week. That's cool and all, but would it have killed anyone on SmackDown to give even one match a little more time? Lumping guys the calibre of Finn Bálor and Dolph Ziggler into frankly sh*te matches is a skill.

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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.