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

by Jamie Kennedy

1. Phenomenal Back-To-Back Performances

AJ Styles Bobby Lashley
WWE.com

Someone give AJ Styles and Bobby Lashley one big pat on the back for the shift they put in last night. Both worked back-to-back winners on the show, and managed to save enough juice for a sweet main event that had the live crowd hooked.

Not quite San Juan hooked, but that's another story.

AJ winning felt good, and he'll have a fun match vs. Seth Rollins at Night Of Champions despite the obvious vibe to the outcome. Basically, is a SmackDown guy really going to win what's planned to be a Raw-exclusive belt? Also, Styles just moved over to Fridays in the 2023 Draft, so he ain't going back the other way so soon.

Regardless, AJ and Lashley can be proud of what they achieved on this week's show. Neither dude phoned in his part in respective Triple Threat bouts, which would've been understandable when they had another match to come later. In fact, they went after it and delivered in-ring twice.

Good times.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more like this, check out 10 Ideas WWE Blatantly Stole From THEMSELVES and WWE 2K23: 13 Best Female CAWs You Must Download!

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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.