5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (23 Aug - Results & Review)
KO continues playing mind games with Cody Rhodes; The Bloodline restructures.
Roman Reigns was absent for this week's episode of SmackDown, but anyone who caught the thumping conclusion to last week's show would've known that going in. The OTC was MIA after being blasted through the announce desk Shield-style by Solo Sikoa's own Bloodline. On Friday, WWE followed up by promoting Jacob Fatu.
Solo announced that he'd be his "personal enforcer" going forwards, and now heads turn to surefire hits like Roman vs. both Fatu and Sikoa. This Bloodline biz is the gift that keeps giving, but it isn't the only thing SmackDown has to offer in August 2024. Cody Rhodes is working a curious tale with Kevin Owens that should stretch beyond next week's Bash In Berlin too.
The pair teamed up here, sure, and yet...something was off. Triple H masterfully laced multiple segments full of little details that'll pay off soon. They're all worth seeing. If only there was some similar movement in the story that ran alongside Cody and KO though: Austin Theory's seemingly inevitable but constantly postponed split from Grayson Waller.
A few production choices and bits of characterisation that were too Vince McMahon-ish also held back a few other segments, but this was a tidy episode of blue brand fare all round. Here's all the good and bad from it!