5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (June 10)
Gunther grabs SmackDown gold; Riddle gets nasty; Ronda Rousey is...so unlikeable it hurts.
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.