5 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (July 3)

1. Who Is Rusev?

Look, everyone loves Rusev. He's an underrated, under-pushed wrestler with significant in-ring chops and a sense of charisma strong enough to transcend many a ham-fisted WWE script. The man himself is great, and it's awesome that the company are finally giving him a main event push. Extreme Rules should be a lot of fun.

But we need to talk about his presentation.

'The Bulgarian Brute' is simultaneously a hero and a villain, playing up the "Rusev Day" chants one moment, then destroying AJ Styles (a clear babyface) the next. His problem is almost identical to Kevin Owens' on Raw in that the company have no idea what they're supposed to be presenting him as. They're too indecisive to pin their plans to either side of the alignment line, and have thus ended up with a milquetoast take on the character that never truly scratches a face or heel itch.

The WWE apologist's viewpoint is that alignments don't matter anymore, faces and heels no longer exist, and everyone is but a different shade of neutral. This sounds like a paper-thin excuse for ineffective writing. Rusev, the performer, is affable as hell, and should've been turned babyface a long time ago, but here he is, flip-flopping like a fish out of water. He was inconsistent again last night, and this must change if the company have designs of elevating him beyond the midcard long-term.