5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (16 May - Results & Review)

1. JC Mateo’s Debut Match Doesn’t Hit

LA Knight could tell the redubbed JC Mateo a thing or two about debuting for WWE in the worst way possible, but at least the ex-Jeff Cobb got to make a splash at Backlash. Sadly, he failed to follow up on that with something memorable during his proper in-ring bow on Friday night. JC went around 15 minutes with Knight and won, but the fans didn’t really seem to care about him at all and the match was dull.

Yikes.

Working in a t-shirt and jeans didn’t help either. Mateo looked like one of those security extras who break up brawls rather than a star in his own right. Nobody's saying he needed Seth Rollins attire, but come on - give the guy a chance to make an impression. There was a lack of energy hanging over from the men’s three way afflicting this match too. Something was…missing, and it got pretty awkward.

No, that has nothing to do with Jeff Cobb’s name change, obviously. He just didn’t look all that impressive, which is disappointing. If anything, poor JC already looks like a cheap knock off of Jacob Fatu without the intensity. That is not good. Not good at all. Mateo only really turned heads when hitting a standing moonsault and his scoop power slam finisher near the end.

There is a bright side to what he's doing on TV, but it only indirectly involves JC. WWE better hope that this performance doesn't set the tone for his run with the company, otherwise it'll be a painfully brief one. They set him up to fail here.