And with the clickbait accusations out of the way, on to another relatively pleasing edition of a show that has quietly become the best thing about WWE's billion dollar deal with Fox since it debuted last year.
The company make more money from this arrangement than any in their history, yet SmackDown plays out with familiarity that borders on the frustrating. Roman Reigns grafts atop the card, Bray Wyatt gets stop-start pushed, Daniel Bryan works harder for the art than it does for him and the women are marginalised into fighting over the belt or men. Was any of this any different before Vince McMahon had a Scrooge McDuckian room of cash to dive into?
Of course not - even Backstage is a glossy reimagining of the beloved and much-missed Talking Smack. But it works each week at returning to those lofty heights, even if it isn't quite perfect...
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
