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

Downs...

6. Sami Zayn Slips

Rick Boogs Sami Zayn Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE.com

WWE tends to do this, don't they?

They set someone up as a champion or challenger and then think it's OK to have them slip on proverbial banana peels for a while. Sure, Sami Zayn is good enough to cope with that sort of thing, but he shouldn't be jobbing to Rick Boogs before wrestling Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Title.

He just shouldn't. It's brainless to think that the best way to sell that title bout to fans is to have Shin's guitar-playing lackey (a powerful one or not) rag doll Zayn around the ring for almost 10 full minutes. This was a step backwards for Sami, and one he certainly didn't need to take.

Boogs has a future, and his power moves do land with a nice thump, but he's not in Zayn's league right now. This should've been Sami's chance to cheat (because he can) and then point over at a scowling Nakamura. They've got a title match to build, for Christ's sake.

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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.