5 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (May 19)

by Jamie Kennedy

1. Great Build Towards Extreme Rules

AJ Styles Roman Reigns
WWE.com

Overall, SmackDown did a wonderful job of building towards Extreme Rules. Fans were left with the lasting visual of Roman Reigns and AJ Styles brawling over the announce desk. Meanwhile, all hell was breaking loose between The Usos, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

It was simple, yet powerful stuff. That was perhaps the biggest highlight, SmackDown furthered the main event story and also took into account many of the other feuds heading into the pay-per-view. Remarkably, it did a better job of building up to the show than Monday Night Raw had.

Even little touches, like Rusev and Lana saying in a backstage promo that Kalisto had no chance at Extreme Rules, worked. A video package detailing the rivalry between Charlotte and Natalya was also memorable.

If WWE were looking for the ideal show to get people excited for Extreme Rules, they managed to achieve that with this week's SmackDown.

What other 'ups' and 'downs' did you take from this week's WWE SmackDown? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments section below!

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Contributor

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.