5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Oct 15)
2. Short And Sweet
Much has been written about the stunning dynamic between Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman. The way Roman flips between caring family man and coldhearted despot is genuinely gripping, and Heyman knows exactly when to play the flustered coward who's in over his head.
Brock Lesnar deserves some praise too.
He's been playing his role to a tee since returning. The way he fanned the flames of discontent in Camp Reigns by pretending to collude with Paul E pre-SmackDown made the "main event" contract signing soar. This was really, really good television. Bonus points go to WWE for resisting the hackneyed eruption of violence too.
Lesnar and Roman didn't need to brawl again before Crown Jewel. They've covered that side of things, and it was more important that Brock continued messing with the Universal Champion's head before jetting off to Saudi. This was short, sweet and got the job done.