5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (May 22)

It isn't looking good for the Universal Title...

by Jamie Kennedy
Sheamus Michael Cole
WWE.com

If WWE want to be really wacky during the empty arena era, then they should book Sheamus vs. Michael Cole in some sort of cinematic disaster-piece at Backlash. Sure, it's dumb, and nobody needs a repeat of Cole's work at WrestleMania XXVII, but it'd keep this writer entertained.

To be fair, the latest episode of SmackDown did too.

Following last week's lame 'Brand-To-Brand Invitational' chat, a subpar Elias vs. 'King' Corbin match and Daniel Bryan's admittedly fine win over a former partner who will not be named (Drew Gulak) was never going to be too difficult. Still, WWE deserve credit for setting the table with a bumper line up of matches; AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura was a much better 'Mania rematch than Eli vs. Corbin, for example.

SmackDown featured a nice history lesson, some solid focus on in-ring action and the right winners in every single match put on. The main negatives killing the buzz amidst all this positivity cannot be ignored though. Fluky wins and what could be one of the least interesting Universal Title matches in pay-per-view history dragged things down a bit...

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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.