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

by Jamie Kennedy

1. An All-Round Winner

Cody Rhodes Roman Reigns
WWE.com

Cody Rhodes was in the house for a face-to-face with Roman this week, and all they did was talk. Being honest, that's a good thing, because it's actually better if these headliners don't touch until they're standing across the ring from one another at WrestleMania 39.

They've got so much more talking to do anyway, especially about Dusty Rhodes.

The way Reigns took Cody's guard down when talking Dusty, then used it as a stick to beat him with, made for unbelievably compelling television. It must be said: WWE has also done a stunning job of keeping Rhodes' popularity up during the whole Sami Zayn story too.

This confrontation was a gigantic leap forward in terms of building proper excitement for 'Mania's main event. Cody was heartfelt-but-passionate, and Roman f*cked with his head whilst spouting some harsh truths the babyface might not want to hear.

Watch this segment over and over again.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more, check out 10 Incredible Wrestling Title Wins That Led To AWFUL Title Reigns and AEW Revolution 2023: 10 Nightmares That Could Come True!

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Contributor

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.