5 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (June 16)

Xavier Woods shared the spotlight with AJ Styles this week...

Sami Zayn Kevin Owens
WWE.com

Money In The Bank couldn't come at a better time for WWE. As good as various tag-team matches involving the Ladder Match entrants have been, they'd inevitably grow stale if they were rehashed time and time again. This week's SmackDown was headlined by a bumper 6-man tag affair, one that proved the pay-per-view is coming at the perfect moment.

It was the heels against the babyfaces at the end of the program, Chris Jericho teaming with Kevin Owens and Alberto Del Rio, whereas Dean Ambrose, Cesaro and Sami Zayn joined forces. The match was an entertaining one, and it wasn't alone. There was a fresh feel to at least two other encounters on SmackDown.

Unbelievably, there was still a lack of hype surrounding the WWE World Heavyweight Title. That's been a notable negative on SmackDown over the past few weeks, but hype between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins really should have been part of the 'go home' show before Money In The Bank. They are the main event after all.

That 'Down' isn't here, instead replaced by others that did feature on the show but just didn't work. Thankfully, some real 'Ups' saved the day, ensuring SmackDown was an enjoyable broadcast overall.

Let's look in-depth at those strengths and weaknesses...

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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.