5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (10 July - Results & Review)

3. WWE Mistimed SmackDown’s Ending

Cody Rhodes marched out to help Nick Aldis in the wake of Gunther’s attack right at the end of the episode, but the cameras went dark just as he went to get inside the ring. In a way, there was something dramatic about it all, but WWE blatantly mistimed the closing segment there. Credits were popping up on the screen during Gunther’s sleeper, for example, so it was clear that they were running short on time.

Someone either cued Cody a little too late, or the episode was generally misfired. Fingers crossed one Chris Parks had nothing to do with that, otherwise we'll get another cringe segment involving Bruce Prichard on the next season of Unreal. Seriously though, it's likely tricky to line everything up perfectly, but you'd think WWE's staff would have their formula down to a fine art by now.

There have been some noticeable audio issues plaguing programming lately too. Gunther's confrontation with Aldis behind the scenes earlier in the night was practically inaudible at times, and the live crowd jeered because they probably couldn't hear a thing that was being said. These aren't things a well-oiled machine or a company with the cash WWE has shouldn't be struggling with, but they are.

Even more confusingly, that's come out of the blue.

They never used to. Surely SmackDown going from 3 to 2 hours isn't responsible for this. That 2 hour format was standard for years, and you'd imagine Rhodes sprinting out to save the General Manager from a top heel would be a priority quarter on the booking/production sheets.