6 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (May 12)

4. One Hell Of A Promo

Roman Reigns The Usos Solo Sikoa Paul Heyman Bloodline
WWE.com

Roman Reigns nailed every story beat he had to hit during that in-ring Bloodline meltdown. The 'Tribal Chief' put Solo Sikoa over as hard as he could, threatened to boil over when confronting Jimmy Uso, set up a match at Night Of Champions, and even successfully teased something to come vs. Jey.

That was slick.

The whole segment was great stuff, and should be considered a return to form for The Bloodline post-WrestleMania. Yes, WWE is hitting the repeat button on this Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens stuff, but it'll still be a hoot because Roman is involved at NOC.

A section of the fanbase seems keen to move on from Bloodline business ASAP. That's fine, but nobody can dismiss great character work like this was. Reigns really knows how to skirt that fine line between master manipulator and flustered hot head.

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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.