5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (27 June - Results & Review)

Ups...

5. Aleister Black Is Rising?

It's amazing how a few tiny tweaks here and there can change someone's opinion drastically. Now, after a few seemingly inconsequential backstage promos, this fan is 100x more invested in Aleister Black than at any point since his WWE return. He's been cast as somebody who knows he has to ruffle some feathers if he wants to make a splash this time around, and that's infinitely more compelling than...whatever he had going on with The Miz and Carmelo Hayes.

Ultimately, Black vs. Damian Priest is the match WWE's writers need to get to. Sure, it's a shame that R-Truth has become collateral, but building up Aleister as a force to be reckoned with might well be a sweet byproduct of Ron Killings struggling for house room so soon after his own comeback. Not everybody can get pushed at the same time, being fair.

If Truth is going to sink for Black to swim, then at least something good will come out of WWE's spotty booking for Ron.

Aleister has been increasingly miffed at Killings muscling in on his business lately. Truth stopped a match vs. Kit Wilson by attacking him pre-match then shouting about John Cena. This week, he jumped the queue when Black was trying to talk with Raw and SmackDown GMs Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis.

That earned him a boot to the jaw inside the ring. Priest confronting Aleister, and the sly little wicked grin Black gave him, suggests they're about to throw hands too. That's some upgrade from Miz and Melo, all things considered.