5 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Jan 7)

1. John Cena's Heavily Hyped Smackdown Return Felt Lacking

It's hardly WWE's fault that John Cena went down with an injury before Smackdown was taped, but the shoulder problem couldn't have come at a worse time. Hyping the idea that Cena would compete in a match would have helped Smackdown's ratings, but the poster boy of WWE was unable to wrestle. This relegated him to a bit part in the show. Smackdown probably should have opened with a blistering match to set the tone for the program, but WWE elected to insert some John Cena time on the microphone. This was done solely to set up a match between Alberto Del Rio and Kalisto. Of course, Cena has been feuding with Del Rio, but he now looks to be taking some extended time on the shelf whilst recovering from injury. It felt like something was missing from Cena's involvement. Injury naturally led to a change of plans, but hearing Del Rio and he trade the same banter back and forth didn't kick Smackdown off in an exciting fashion. The segment could have been shorter and still achieved what it was supposed to.