5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (March 20)
Your eyes are not deceiving you.
WWE's empty arena TV run continued with Friday's topsy-turvy episode of SmackDown.
The company offered some big moments on the program. Ex-NFL star Rob Gronkowski made his official debut as a member of the roster, some big matches with WrestleMania 36 implications were set up for next week, another was confirmed for 'Mania itself, there was a development in the ongoing Dolph Ziggler/Otis/Mandy Rose story and Goldberg signed the contract on his Universal Title defence against Roman Reigns.
Something is lacking from the format sheets though. As understandable as it is for the company to re-run old matches to fill three hours on Raw, it's less forgiveable on a two-hour SmackDown. Empty arenas or not, WWE really should be able to cram the blue brand with more original content by this point.
That might be nit-picking, but it's true. They just need to get a bit more creative rather than relying on a 'from the archives' bout every week. The latest 'Mania XXX flashback felt a bit unsatisfying despite being topical for John Cena and Bray Wyatt's feud.
Here are all the 'Ups' and 'Downs' from another week in bizarro land...