4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Dec 13)

2. The Old Singles-Into-Tag Match Gimmick

Speaking of obvious, everyone could see that WWE had a tag-team main event in mind. It's generally what wrestling companies do when they don't have any better ideas; it's no coincidence at all that this episode of SmackDown was stuffed with tags. The writers are killing time. They know it, fans know it and the workers probably know it.

Michael Cole and Corey Graves attempted to feign surprise when the show returned from a commercial break after Kofi Kingston vs. 'King' Corbin was thrown out. They pressed the reset button and hyped up the tag involvement of Dolph Ziggler and Big E as a bonus. Nobody was buying that in the arena.

That's why they barely reacted to Corbin vs. Kingston. Everybody knew it was only a matter of time before the old singles-into-tag idea was used. It's hardly one WWE has used sparingly over the years on TV. That's their go-to when fresh material is thin.

Fine TV match, but they should've booked a tag from the off.