5 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (5 July - Results & Review)

3. KO Gets Emotional

Touching on real-life trauma can be tricky for pro wrestling. The industry paints in such broad strokes that subtle, realistic nuances from someone's personal life can actually hinder stories or get in the way. So, Kevin Owens deserves a lot of praise for how deftly he handled that story about his mother currently being bed bound in hospital.

Kev is really great at stuff like this. He comes across as an actual human being who lives a life away from the week-to-week hubbub of WWE programming. Well done to Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton for having the smarts to give KO the floor to add a little context to why he's so obsessed with tearing The Bloodline menace to pieces.

Owens suggesting that his mother would be mad if he left his friends high and dry just for her put across the family's fighting spirit. Some online seem to think this is setup for Kev to take the fall and be written off TV at MITB, which is possible. Either way, and regardless of what his immediate future holds, he handled himself with class here.

An unexpected emotional journey towards Saturday's six-man tag.