5 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Feb 6)

Downs...

3. Where's The Hype?

Daniel Bryan
WWE.com

To start, a couple of borderline nitpicks.

Last night's main event went to a no contest when AJ Styles attacked both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn from his position in the announce booth. This prompted Daniel Bryan to march out and book the trio in a WWE Championship Triple Threat at Fastlane - a match nobody wanted.

Would it be too much to ask for a straight up, high workrate singles bout for once? These title matches are the pits. The Royal Rumble's handicap contest was okay-ish, but hindered by a stodgy formula. Jinder Mahal, Randy Orton, and Bray Wyatt's reigns were defined by bad matches. In fact, you have to go all the way back to the 2017 Rumble, and Styles vs. Cena, to find a legitimately great one-on-one title fight.

WWE also announced Dolph Ziggler's return to the brand during the show. After his wet fart of a Rumble appearance, do they really expect this to drum up excitement?

Hype is dead.

Advertisement
Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.