5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (8 Aug - Results & Review)

Ups...

5. MFTs In The Tag Title Hunt

On paper, Talla Tonga and JC Mateo beating the Motor City Machine Guns would have folks scratching their brain boxes wondering what on earth creative is smoking. However, the story going in was that the Guns were banged up from TLC at SummerSlam, so they couldn’t really get going or do their usual smooth as silk teamwork. Solo Sikoa's MFTs took full advantage of that.

JC and Talla came across as big destroyers here, which is exactly what should’ve happened. That's especially true for Talla. No-one should have an issue with these guys getting in on the tag title hunt, and this loss won’t hurt Chris Sabin or Alex Shelley one bit. For what it's worth, the MCMGs sold their butts off here. Shelley, in particular, did God's work when selling for Tonga's strikes and slams.

Talla owes Alex dinner for how much of a shift he put in to make the new enforcer look like an absolute monster. Meanwhile, Mateo looked better in tag action than he has in singles. This could be Jeff Cobb's role in WWE - tag bruiser alongside the bigger Talla Tonga. Give yours truly that over The Wyatt Sicks any day of the week!

You've got to love when WWE presents a tidy, compact story for matches that'd otherwise have nothing else going on. The Guns were hurting, so Solo had his troops seize the initiative and force their way into the title conversation. Sikoa mentioning the belts during his post-match promo is also rather encouraging, because it shows that's where the company plans to go next.

Bring it on.