5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Aug 18)

Downs...

3. Good Match, Wrong Decision?

LA Knight Austin Theory
WWE.com

That number one contenders battle between LA Knight and Austin Theory was slick and well-worked, but the booking must be called into question. Theory challenging Rey Mysterio is much weaker than just moving on from Austin (again, for now) and having Knight eventually win the United States Title.

He's hot sh*t right now, but WWE feels hesitant go all in. It looked like they were going to after SummerSlam, but no. Also, having The Miz there despite his Raw status might not annoy some, but God only knows why WWE undermines its own Draft this way. That was avoidable!

Now, Theory is rolling to a match with Mysterio off the back of a distraction-filled rollup win. That's no disaster, but it hardly paints him as a strong hurdle for Rey-Rey. Yep, good match/segment with some irritating booking tropes that dragged it into 'Down' territory.

Bummer.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.