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

1. But Having Paul Heyman There

...Paul was in Toronto, and he took the opportunity to wind up old foe Kayla Braxton.

The pair just play off of one another so well. They always have, and that old spark ignited the fires of annoyance within Kayla for Heyman's dismissive banter. Their argumentative back and forth worked, and so did Paul getting an anonymous tip about Jimmy Uso's return next week.

Bloodline stuff is the top story in wrestling today, and it can't afford to take too many shows off. This was a necessary breather though. It's also notable that Edge's possible retirement carried the broadcast anyway, so Roman and pals wouldn't have been needed this week.

WWE managed to keep The Bloodline on ice without forgetting about it completely. Perhaps they should stop to think about that, then use the same formula for other stories on both major brands. Not everything can be as carefully-layered or critically-acclaimed as Bloodline, but creative has to try.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more like this, check out 10 WWE Gimmicks That Are Totally DEAD and 10 Most INSANE Things Wrestling Companies Did For The Money!