6 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (21 Mar - Results & Review)
Pull apart brawl previews WrestleMania three-way on a rock solid episode of WWE SmackDown.
A well travelled WWE roster must wish they could perform in front of these European crowds every single week.
That's a cliche thing to say in the modern era due to the international TV/PLE schedule the company keeps, but it's worth saying on repeat. On Friday, Bologna in Italy was fired up for some SmackDown fare. Like Barcelona last week, they didn't get the best show going, but everyone worked hard and WWE handed those in attendance one hell of a closer to make it feel like paying punters played their part in building towards a WrestleMania 41 blockbuster.
Sadly, two matches were a real disappointment. One of those had all the ingredients to delight after recent events, but it just didn't live up to the billing. The other? The other is symptomatic of the uphill struggle Chelsea Green has as Women's United States Champion. Triple H really isn't meeting the heel or her burgeoning stable halfway there.
The good news is that the positives definitely outweighed the negatives by a landslide margin. Kevin Owens showed why attention to detail and serving the past matters, Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest had a right good stab at making their own 'Mania match mean something, Jade Cargill worked one of her best solo efforts since signing (whilst Naomi stuck her nose in), and the meet n' greet between Roman Reigns, CM Punk and Seth Rollins was exactly what it needed to be.
WWE even found time to continue pulling the nose up on a previously-worrisome Women's Title situation.
Here's everything you need to know from the latest TV stop on the current European tour.