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

Ups...

5. The Johnny Knoxville Cameo

Johnny Knoxville Sami Zayn
WWE.com

Few could've foreseen this as the first 'Up'.

Individual tolerance for celeb cameos may vary fan-to-fan, but this one is gonna say that Johnny Knoxville's moment was perfectly fine. He didn't face up Sami Zayn before tossing him over the top rope; Knoxville ambushed the heel from behind and surprised him, so Zayn has an out should he need one.

The timing is slightly regrettable, to be fair, and yours truly did just whinge about Zayn losing to Rick Boogs in the 'Downs' section. Still, at least this didn't eat up much time on the show and was designed to promote the Royal Rumble. It's hard to be angry at WWE for trying to do that.

Besides, this will all be remedied by Sami winning the Intercontinental Title from Shinsuke Nakamura (his reign has been dreadfully nondescript) and then throwing Knoxville out of the 30-man match at the end of the month. Fingers crossed that's the plan.

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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.