5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (11 Sept - Results & Review)

Ups...

5. Decent ‘Champ On Notice’ Address

Randy Orton kicked off the show with a basic promo talking about how Cody Rhodes couldn’t pull the trigger at SNME because “he’s a good man and no killer”. Then, he put the winner of the WWE Title main event on notice by saying he’d have an RKO waiting for them. This was all rather straightforward, but the live crowd was buzzed to see Randy and he did have a point to make.

He was keeping himself in the title mix here, which is smart.

Also, Orton fed the thought that Cody is about to turn heel and show a different side to his personality. That's been implied for a while now, but the superhero-style babyface just can't bring himself to be downright evil. When he snaps, he'll snap hard, and that could be a special moment for the 'American Nightmare'. It'd also bring a wry smile across the lips of Randy, or terrify him. That's up for debate, and so is how the writers should play with the iconic heel's own character once Rhodes goes off the deep end.

For the time being, having Orton ominously threaten that he'd be coming for either CM Punk or Sami Zayn was a neat way to open up the night. He didn't stop by to deliver on that RKO once Zayn shockingly won the belt later on, but WWE can put that moment on ice. Who knew we could have so many successful tweeners knocking around the headline scene without it feeling awkward?! Guys like Randy and Sami are smashing their characterisation these days.