5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (1 Nov - Results & Review)

1. Star Power Pulls The Show’s Nose Up

SmackDown sorely needed this segment by the time it made air. Like, genuinely. Some of the tag matches were already stinking up the place, and there was less energy in the room than there would've been for Vince McMahon-led creative meetings in 2019. Seeing Roman Reigns and The Usos livened things up for the crowd in attendance, and it finally gave everyone an excuse to pop, pop, pop.

Roman giving Jey a "yeet" after the ex-Intercontinental Champion's passionate promo showed that the original Bloodline is back on the same page. That got a monster reaction from the live crowd, and so did Jimmy, Jey and Reigns all raising one finger to the sky. Dear readers, behold your pop of the night. That's star power. The Usos and Roman got a monumental response for actually doing very little, which goes to show how invested people are in their story.

Even so, it's worth pointing out that Reigns is still acting subtly aloof. He hasn't magically changed overnight just because he's babyface now, and that's a positive. This is very-much the same 'Tribal Chief' character Roman played before. He's just slightly less prone to being a jerk to the fans for the sake of it. Now, following SmackDown, he's an "equal" with The Usos.

We'll see how long that lasts, but it's worth going with WWE on this road to WarGames at Survivor Series.

This skit was another bit of inspired work involving The Bloodline, and it does come across loud and clear that Jey has been elevated as a star since breaking free from Roman's tyranny. Now, they're all back on track, and Jimmy Uso couldn't be happier about it.

YEET!

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more wrestling, check out 50 Best WCW Moments Ever and 10 DUMB WWE Returns (We Didn't Want To Admit Were GENIUS!)