5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (July 24)

3. Undeserving Contenders

This could be construed as too negative, because it's hardly a bad thing when wrestling companies give fresh talent opportunities, but it'd be nice to see some context behind that opportunity. SmackDown's four-way between Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, Shorty G and Drew Gulak didn't have that.

What did these guys do to deserve warring for a crack at the IC Title?

The field for this match only served to show how thin on the ground the babyface side is on the SmackDown undercard right now. Nobody is buying Metalik as a credible threat to AJ Styles. Nobody. That'd be the case had Dorado or Shorty won - only Gulak has some recent history with the champ, which WWE could've played with.

Instead, they've got a cold championship clash next week. Styles will bring the best out in Metalik, no doubt, but this is hardly gonna' be a ratings grab for WWE. If they're going to build new stars, then they need to do so properly.