5 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (June 30)

Ups...

5. Summer Rae Gets Some Time To Shine

Summer Rae Sasha Banks
WWE.com

Before she was unfortunately sidelined with a concussion injury, Sasha Banks was supposedly meant to have a mini-feud with Summer Rae. This would have ended in victory for the popular babyface, ably setting her up to challenge Charlotte for the WWE Women's Title. It didn't happen, but WWE made up for lost time on SmackDown.

On other programming like Main Event and Superstars, Banks and Rae have interacted since Sasha's return. Summer's match with Becky Lynch didn't happen on Monday Night Raw, but she looked wonderful on SmackDown. Crucially, she wasn't pinned and overlooked in mere minutes, the match was given time to develop and become meaningful.

There's no doubt that Banks winning was the right result, but it looked better due to the struggle in overcoming Summer. When she's given the chance, and in there with the right opponent, Rae can be useful. That was proved here, she knows how to come across as an abrasive heel.

At just under 10 minutes, this was a satisfying women's match. After weeks of shorter bouts, that was welcome.

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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.