5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (May 15)
Money In The Bank or 'Meat In The Briefcase'?
What do double caterpillars, passionate promos and WrestleMania 36 rematches nobody wanted have in common? The answer? They were all part of this week's SmackDown, one that didn't exactly scream out of the starting blocks or front load the show so that anyone flipping channels might get hooked.
Nope - this was functional WWE fare. Sports entertainment 101, if you like.
That's not necessarily a major complaint. The company are clearly struggling to maintain their own interest in these empty arena shows now that the 'Mania buzz is gone, and it must be a weekly ball ache to try and make episodes must-see television when things are so up in the air in the real world. For what it's worth, SmackDown is doing alright. Some weeks are excellent and logical, and others...not so much.
The latest edition was blatantly filler, but WWE did manage to sneak two worthwhile promos and some solid character work into the booking. The bad news is that they're trying that 'Wild Card' sh*t from last year again (God only knows for how long).
Here are all the 'Ups' and 'Downs' from Friday...