5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown Live! In Newcastle (May 17)

1. The A-Show

The idea that SmackDown Live! could ever be seen a the company's lead brand requires the death of Vince McMahon himself, so loyal to his Monday Night Raw baby as The Chairman remains a quarter of a century after its inaugural episode. As a midweek mainstream wrestling card though, this show was completely without compare.

Though the Raw side got UK Champion Pete Dunne instead of the moribund all-Brits six-man time-filler, they also had to contend with the whole Raw roster too. With Bobby Roode, Baron Corbin and Bobby Lashley guilty of stinkers with the cameras rolling let alone when they're off, there was little to get all that thrilled for.

Not the case with the blue crew - NXT Champion Aleister Black was a pleasant addition against Sanity also-ran Alexander Wolfe, whilst turns from Daniel Bryan, Jeff Hardy, Shinsuke Nakamura and WWE Champion AJ Styles were high profile enough that only the likes of Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman would have been physically and figuratively big enough to steal their spotlights.

It perhaps highlights the perils of the over-abundance of television wrestling - in a live environment the superstars really felt just like that, rather than belonging on the eponymous C-show instead. An important reminder of that connection, the live experience still captures the magic, even when excessive over-scripting works overtime to extract it.