5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (2 May - Results & Review)

2. Honestly? A Bit Lifeless!

Being a passionate pro wrestling fan sometimes means it's easy to knee jerk react when everything falls short of being flawless. Fair enough, but the question must be asked: Is this simply an early wobble in the WWE career of one Rey Fenix, or should his biggest fans be worried? Fenix ate a loss at 'Mania 41 when subbing for the injured Rey Mysterio vs. Chad Gable's El Grande Americano gimmick, and now he's following that up with a less-than-thrilling scrap on SmackDown.

Fenix vs. Santos Escobar should've been fabulous. Sadly, it never really got going. On commentary, Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett covered for this by claiming Rey had to show a different side of himself to overcome Santos. Cool, but the match was far too slow and ponderous throughout, and Fenix didn't spring into life until right at the very end.

The bout was a little too boring to score an 'Up', which was unexpected.

Here's the problem: Triple H has to avoid turning dudes like Fenix into 'just another worker on the roster'. He should sparkle weekly, and the only way to make sure of that is by having him go hell for leather (thus playing to his high flying strengths) whilst developing some sort of identifiable character during promos and other assorted segments.

Rey vs. Escobar came across as fairly lazy booking, truth be told. It was Tony Khan style, 'Get 'em in the ring and it'll be fine' fare, and that just isn't enough for weekly episodic TV. Of course, this could be that ol' knee jerking chestnut discussed at the head of this entry. That's possible, but this guy just wants more from somebody who's so fresh and new to WWE's product.