5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Jan 1)

2. Heels Are Real People Too

Sami Zayn King Corbin Steve Cutler Wesley Blake
WWE.com

As mentioned earlier, it does kinda' suck that Big E's first challenge as IC Champ is against another smiling babyface. At least it's true that he has some decent heels to work with post-Apollo Crews, and those heels might even launch a mini-feud of their own to establish the next number one contender.

Why not? Heels can disagree occasionally.

During one of SmackDown's tag matches, Sami Zayn and 'King' Corbin failed to see eye-to-eye. They argued extensively, and Zayn also had problems with Corbin's henchmen Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake. Being honest, this bout would've been useless without that dissension.

Also, it was cool to see Sami loop back to his time calling the shots as a faction leader. He tried to get Cutler and Blake to do his bidding like Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura would've done at the start of last year. Corbin ensured they wouldn't, which only furthered the friction.

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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.