5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (11 Apr - Results & Review)

1. Setting The Table For Nick Aldis?

Clearly, it doesn’t look like Nick Aldis will be hauling off the suit and dusting off some NWA Title-winning trunks at WrestleMania 41, but there was enough to his opening segment with Randy Orton to tease people. Aldis did well to catch himself any time he nearly turned back into an active wrestler, but Orton mentioning Mickie James could come back around eventually and be a catalyst for the feud.

Fans in Seattle popped for the idea of Randy vs. Nick, which is certainly a good sign for Aldis. Triple H will be paying attention to that; it's obvious there's interest in seeing Aldis work a few matches. He's been in WWE for a while now, and it'll likely surprise some casual company fans just how accomplished he is between the ropes.

Friday's main event tag pitting Randy and LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga was a sprint. One can’t argue with WWE putting Solo in as a contingency plan for Orton, but there’s more interest in what’s brewing with Aldis. However, again, creative didn't have a lot of time to come up with something new for Randy following announcements that Kevin Owens will be out for anywhere between 6-12 months with a nasty neck injury.

Dunno, something about the way Orton name-dropped Mickie and Nick almost throwing hands because of it suggests that there's more to this story. WWE maybe decided to test the waters on SmackDown and ask the question: 'Is there interest in Randy vs. Aldis?'.

They got their answer. Yes, yes there is.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more like this, check out 10 Things We Learned From Rhea Ripley On Stephanie McMahon's WWE Show and 10 Superstars Who Could Debut (Or Return) On WWE Raw After WrestleMania 41!