5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Dec 9)

2. An Inoffensive Blast From The Past

Kurt Angle Gable Steveson
WWE.com

Let it be known that Chad Gable is a saint and deserves to enjoy a much better 2023. In fact, let's go further: Gable is flirting with Sami Zayn-levels of excellence and routinely makes the best of everything WWE throws his way. Give him a gold medal too, f*ck it.

Kurt Angle bringing the old milk truck out for another whirl was throwaway fun. Note the key word there - "fun". WWE clearly views some of these December-January episodes as filler, so brace yourselves for a few more nostalgia trips like this before Royal Rumble. Not everything will work, but this did.

The lesser-spotted Gable Steveson even got in on the act.

He'll need more than blasting Alpha Academy with milk if he wants to become a top name around these parts, but it was good to see him. Hopefully, this is the start of that elusive full-time run for Steveson, because it'd be nice if he worked a match or two.

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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.