5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Mar 3)

4. Perfectly Fine TV

Rey Dominik Mysterio Rhea Ripley Mask
WWE.com

Admittedly, Dom vs. Santos Escobar was a little rough in spots. However, the story being told with Santos having more respect for Rey than Mysterio's own son is decent, and Dominik tearing up daddy's mask worked a treat (WWE had the foresight to gimmick that motherf*cker this time).

One gets the feeling that Triple H likes Escobar and might hand him a push post-WrestleMania. Positioning him as Rey's protege could be odd given he leads a faction elsewhere, but stranger things have happened and it's hard to begrudge someone so talented more TV time.

What a fine match-into-segment sprint this was.

Creative managed to push Santos further towards babyface status, portrayed Dominik as a snot-nosed punk again, and brought Rey out for the now-customary show of disrespect from his own flesh and blood. Next step: 'Papi' Mysterio biting back over on Raw.

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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.