5 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Sept 12)

Ups…

5. Kevin Owens Opens The Show

This week’s SmackDown opened with an in-ring promo for a refreshing change, with Kevin Owens on hosting duties for the evening.

Cognisant of his meeting with Vince McMahon later in the night, KO reiterated his plans to sue Shane, stating that when he won, he’d fire Sami Zayn, cancel the Fashion Files, and force Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton to share the same suit, “seeing as they sound the same.”

Shane’s music hit, but it was just Dolph Ziggler working his new mock entrance shtick. Daniel Bryan’s theme then started playing and the GM legitimately strolled out from the back, before warning KO that he wasn’t going to like what Vince had planned for him, which Owens took in his stride.

It was a solid show-opener, and it’s good to see SmackDown being built around Owens these days, but WWE effectively set up an in-ring promo with an in-ring promo. Still, KO was on good form throughout, saying he’d fire Zayn first was a nice touch, and he left us with the impression that he just doesn’t care anymore.

Andy H Murray

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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.

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