5 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Oct 22)

Ups...

5. Rusev, Sheamus And 'King' Barrett Have Purpose

When certain characters on WWE programming have little to do, it's the creative team's responsibility to find things for them on television. Instead of doing this over the past few years, the company have often meekly offered up the excuse that today's wrestlers don't want to succeed as badly as their predecessors from years gone by. Vince McMahon pretty much said this during his appearance on Steve Austin's podcast. It's no secret that Rusev and 'King' Barrett have been booked badly for months. Since winning the 'King Of The Ring' tournament, Barrett has come across as complete cannon fodder on the roster, which is inexcusable. Aligning both with Sheamus - the current 'Mr. Money In The Bank' - has worked well, the trio seem like a good fit together. On Smackdown, Sheamus and Barrett defeated The Lucha Dragons. The match was short, but it hammered home the point that Barrett is finally moving in the right direction. Putting Rusev with them is shrewd, because otherwise he'd be lost in the shuffle terribly. Before the bout, the group cut a promo that came across well. There's no rush for Sheamus to cash in, this is a worthwhile distraction from the WWE Title hunt for him.