5 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Mar 21)

1. A Complete U-Turn

AJ Styles opened SmackDown with a strong in-ring promo, and closed it in a messy confrontation with his WrestleMania 33 opponent, Shane McMahon. Having arrived at the arena late for the second week in a row (great job, Mr. Commissioner), Shane hit the ring, called AJ out, and had to wait through an advertisement break before Styles finally appeared.

Styles told Shane to calm down, then got all mopey on his boss. He apologised for his actions last week and offered a handshake, but of course, it was all a ruse. They brawled, and after hitting The Phenomenal One with a monitor, McMahon set Styles up on the announce table, then elbow dropped him through it. As they're prone to do, WWE burned a big spot two weeks before Mania, and Styles was made to look like a fool.

The duo probably had to get physical after last week, but this wasn't the way to do it. Shane's attacks always look sloppy and weak, particularly his strikes, and WWE should have kept these under wraps until at least the pay-per-view. The idea that a 47-year-old authority figure is a legitimate thread to a guy many consider the best wrestler in the world is laughable: SmackDown's closing segment only emphasised this, and ended the show on a sour note.