6 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Mar 17)

2. The Tease!

Cody Rhodes Kevin Owens Sami Zayn
WWE.com

Time for a one-two punch of storytelling excellence.

Cody Rhodes trying to rally the troops and play peacemaker between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn makes a lot of sense. Not only is he thanking KO for introducing him to wrestling pals like The Young Bucks (without really naming names), but Cody is also f*cking with Roman Reigns' family by lining up a tag-team threat.

What a terrific opening segment, one made even better by KO refusing to commit straight away. WWE teased fans tuning in big time with all of this, and rightly so - they couldn't exactly deliver the payoff minutes into the show, could they? Nah, the tease was king here.

Special word must go to Owens' facial expressions backstage when Sami tried to stop him from leaving the arena. The way Zayn's pleas seemed to resonate with Kev would explain his actions later in the show, and it's always nice to have that narrative context.

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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.