4 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE Talking Smack (Jan 10)
2. Up - Wise Old McMahon
As proven whenever a substitute is required on the cult hit, filling Daniel Bryan's chair on Talking Smack remains one of the harder jobs on WWE Television.
And for any viewers of his recent Network projects, the sight of Shane McMahon sat opposite Renee Young as the show commenced probably drew groans of indifference for the surprisingly stilted older McMahon sibling.
Daniel Bryan has mastered the art of injecting vast quantities of personality into the broadcast without ever really stealing focus from the performers, and seemingly aware he was incapable of doing the same, Shane took a different approach and actually made for a surprisingly pleasing replacement.
Only really interjecting when he felt it necessary and ably aiding each wrestler on the show, McMahon was able to warn Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss of the dangers of a Steel Cage match, draw out a completely unknown side of Mojo Rawley (more on that later), and provide shocked foil as Dolph Ziggler discussed his recent heel turn in more detail.
Though never shifting an inch from his comfort zone, the on-screen 'Commissioner' subdued the usual sense of chaos for a week, and in turn gave the more denser promo content some room to breathe.