5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (June 10)

Gunther grabs SmackDown gold; Riddle gets nasty; Ronda Rousey is...so unlikeable it hurts.

Gunther Ludwig Kaiser WWE Intercontinental Title
WWE.com

Someone who really likes workrate mapped out this week's episode of SmackDown.

The entire show was centred around three things: Gunther's quest to become Intercontinental Champion, Money In The Bank qualification and Riddle forcing Roman Reigns to cut short his holidays. WWE managed to achieve everything they set out to do on Friday's show there.

Sadly, and this is really depressing to report, things do not look good on the women's side. Some ladies are just totally unlikeable (step forward Ronda Rousey), and others lack any and all credibility (Shotzi). Then, there's the sad fact that someone else's character has hit the skids completely.

Hey, at least they're trying to sell danger for Rousey with some submission-based storytelling though. Right? Right?! That has to count for something considering Natalya is hardly the most exciting pick to vie for the gold at MITB. One has to take small victories when they come, basically.

All things considered, this was a better episode of SmackDown than recent weeks have thrown up. It's also sweet to see Drew McIntyre back to his best and being used properly rather than as a walking d*ck joke.

Again, small mercies! Here's all the good and the bad from Friday.

Advertisement
Contributor

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.