5 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Nov 21)

2. Shelton's Stolen Victory

Two nights removed from defeating The Bar in Survivor Series 2017's best worked match, The Usos reprised their SmackDown rivalry with Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin last night, with Jey facing the latter one-on-one. Both men's respective partners were ringside, and the action was as fast and fluid as ever, making for a predictably strong TV match.

Jimmy and Jey have been extremely effective as heels over the past 12 months, but their opponents' increasingly loose morals have forced them into de facto babyface roles for this feud. Benjamin was wonderfully aggressive here. He kept Uso grounded for much of the match, and brought several underhand tactics into play, before Gable's distraction took Jey's eye off the ball, allowing Benjamin to nail Pay Dirt for the victory,

It'd be remiss not to call out the repetition. This was essentially a re-booking of what we saw last week, when Gable fell to Jimmy in singles action. The players were different, as was the outcome, but the format is identical. It's irritating that WWE have resorted to this in a division that has been one of SmackDown's biggest highlights this year, but the participants are so enjoyable that it almost doesn't matter. Still, the company must adjust their formula over the coming weeks, particularly if these teams are to feud until Clash of Champions.