5 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (July 7)

1. What’s Going On With These Guys?

AJ Styles Michin Mia Yim
WWE.com

Right, are creative trying to turn Karrion Kross into a thinly-veiled copy of Bray Wyatt circa 2016 or something? He makes all sorts of menacing promises in promos, then rarely comes through when it counts. Karrion's feud with AJ Styles has meandered, and Friday made him look like an absolute loser.

Let's recap: AJ beat Kross back in May, WWE kept things purring in the background, then Styles ploughed straight through Karrion in less than two minutes this week. What? Why?! AJ isn't the kind of worker who needs squashes (especially at this stage in his career), and creative must know they're burying Kross big time.

Urgh.

Here's the deal. If you kickstart a rivalry that knowingly makes someone look this bad, then it simply isn't worth persevering with. Karrion has tumbled since warring with Drew McIntyre last year, and now things are spiralling out of control.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.