5 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Jan 7)

Seth Rollins comes to SmackDown; Brock Lesnar gets laid out; WWE puts Johnny Knoxville over.

by Jamie Kennedy
Johnny Knoxville WWE SmackDown
WWE.com

Johnny Knoxville is going to win the Royal Rumble.

OK, no he isn't, but WWE wants you to believe that the Jackass erm...jackass has a shot at winning the 30-man match on 29 January and somehow making his way to the biggest show of the entire year. Imagine what AEW stars would have to say about WrestleMania if it was headlined by someone like Knoxville?! CM Punk might have a meltdown.

Seriously though, there are other things to get mad at in WWE's world. SmackDown showcased a fair few of them, including title challengers being made to look like utter chumps, "final showdowns" being an outright lie, miserable comedy (if one could even call it that) and Raw stars gatecrashing Friday nights like the Draft never happened.

On the plus side, it wasn't all bad. SmackDown also featured some damn fine mic work involving the usual suspects, and The Usos showed why they're so valuable to Roman Reigns' ongoing story. Then, there was a bit of shrewd decision-making for Charlotte Flair's latest title reign.

Here are all the 'Ups' and the 'Downs'...

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Contributor

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.