5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (14 Feb)

Downs...

4. Bliss-less Banter

Alexa Bliss A Moment Of Bliss
WWE.com

Ugh, those painful show-opening promos need to sod off.

SmackDown has usually been good for kicking off with actual action since moving to FOX (some 'King' Corbin stuff aside), and the writers have done a solid job of getting to some actual wrestling quickly. Even when they haven't, the banter has been improvised well enough to offset any annoyance from 'Stock Opening Promo #20,562'.

That wasn't the case on this week's episode. The jokey prattle between Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross felt about as authentic as most of the female division's hair, and their interview with title challenger Carmella was horribly stilted too. This whole segment was just a poor, poor, poor opening to the program.

WWE need to realise that talent can miss episodes when there's nothing worthwhile for them to do. Bliss and Cross were stuck out there with sh*t material and couldn't rescue it. Nothing about this was likeable, and the Carmella vs. Bayley match could've happened without it.

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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.