4 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Sep 24)

Downs...

6. Mediocrity Isn’t Meaningful

About that mediocrity.

This guy pointed out last week that one ambush angle wouldn't be enough to prep Apollo Crews for another Intercontinental Title tilt. That proved to be the case. His match with 'King' Nakamura was hardly terrible (both guys are too solid for that), but was dead in the water before it even happened.

That's WWE's fault, not Apollo's. Creative has done nothing to make him look credible for weeks, and then they suddenly fancied a hasty defence for Naka. It was never going to work, and the end result was a so-so effort that played before infuriating apathy from a crowd who should've been fired up.

Lesson learned, or not. WWE's writers will continue to bury heels and then heat them up one week before these so-called "huge" matches. The outcome? That pesky, pesky mediocrity that doesn't give either party a chance to really get going.