5 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Dec 17)

1. Show-Opening Promo Was Awkward Again

Roman Reigns is not the best talker WWE have ever had under contract. Even reading that statement may make wrestling fans feel like Captain Obvious has started writing for What Culture. However, despite not being the greatest with a microphone in his hand, Reigns isn't the worst either. He sits somewhere in the middle. He can talk, but not at length. Therefore, this is something WWE big wigs should be avoiding. By now, the promotion really should have learned their lesson with the man. Any time Roman has been tasked with delivering a long, drawn out diatribe, it has failed to hit the mark with fans. If there's one thing TLC showed, it's that people are willing to get behind Reigns, WWE simply have to book him in a way folks enjoy. Smackdown felt like a step backwards, the show-opening segment also involving Sheamus and the 'security force' wasn't great. Reigns and Sheamus bantered back and forth, and fans quickly started to lose interest. Things were rescued a little by having Roman batter the security workers, but things could have been much better had he kept his speech to a minimum.