5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Sept 11)

Wobbly. Walrus.

Jey Uso Roman Reigns Paul Heyman
WWE.com

Last week's SmackDown was one of the best of 2020.

It had Bayley's vicious steel chair attack on Sasha Banks, Paul Heyman doing Paul Heyman things on the mic, a solid Intercontinental Title segment that has breathed new life into the secondary belt, a good Women's Tag Title match and Jey Uso being revealed as a genuinely fresh Universal Title challenger for Roman Reigns.

This week's show was...a little less impressive all-round, but it wasn't bad by any means. SmackDown's two-hour format means it whizzes by compared to Raw, and that can help mask some of the negativity fans spew on social media afterwards. The blue brand, even when it isn't clicking and dips a little too close to mediocre territory, is still an easy watch.

Friday's latest achieved a few of its goals, but the biggest 'Downs' came when WWE leaned on more tired comedy or lazy tropes that (being honest) nobody actually gives a rat's ass about. Those moments slowed the show's roll and meant it didn't quite reach the same highs as last week.

A slight wobble then...

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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.