5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (May 14)

4. That Entire Opening Segment

Roman Reigns Paul Heyman Jimmy Jey Uso
WWE.com

You'd think seeing Roman Reigns talk smack to open Friday nights would be boring by now, but it's not. The 'Head Of The Table' plays his character so well that it offsets any sense of tedium. Plus, he's started to loosen up a bit, laugh along with Paul Heyman and show a little more personality.

That works well when one considers Jimmy Uso's return and claim that he'll never be Roman's "bitch". The way he tried to talk Jey Uso back into the tag-team division was nice, and so was the way Reigns then slyly goaded Jimmy into softening up Cesaro for him before Sunday's pay-per-view.

What a magnificent, conniving bastard.

As always, everybody played their part to perfection here. Roman comes across as a champion jerk, Jey is manipulated, Jimmy is having none of it, Cesaro is focused on WrestleMania Backlash and Paul Heyman is an insufferable toady.

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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.