5 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Mar 13)

by Andy H Murray

1. Shane Bites The Dust

Shane McMahon
WWE.com

On a night of great angles, one involving Shane McMahon takes top honours. His show-closing mauling was fantastic, and 100% effective in building towards WrestleMania 34, where the SmackDown Commissioner will surely be involved.

Shane started off by acknowledging his problems with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, before moving onto more pressing matters. General Manager Daniel Bryan will return next week, and McMahon will step away, embarking upon a leave of absence. This would've been music to the ears of those sick of his tyrannical reign, and the segment took a turn soon after.

Zayn and Owens were booked to face each other at 'Mania. Out they came, and the insults soon started flying, with KO wishing Shane well in his future endeavours. That wasn't all, though. They set upon the Commissioner, beating the unholy hell out of him at ringside, highlighted by an apron powerbomb and a particularly brutal chair/ring post spot, before dragging him backstage, continuing the beatdown.

By the end, Shane was strapped onto a stretcher. He was brutalised. This made for a great visual to close SmackDown, and while we could nitpick certain aspects, why bother? Zayn and Owens looked like killers, Shane was sympathetic, and it actually made us want to see a Triple Threat between them at WrestleMania.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.