6 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Nov 11)

Ups...

6. The Right Result

Shinsuke Nakamura Santos Escobar
WWE.com

There was no way in hell Shinsuke Nakamura needed to beat Santos Escobar.

Escobar is a key member of Zelina Vega's Legado del Fantasma crew, and he'll need to start stacking a few wins on top of each other if he's going to last on WWE's main roster. It would've sucked major balls had Shin overcome all of that interference from other members of the group anyway.

He didn't, thankfully. Nobody should take creative to task for booking so many distractions from the rest of del Fantasma either - that made sense. Why wouldn't they try to cheat if they can get away with it and move Santos one step closer to winning the first ever 'SmackDown World Cup', y'know?

This match won't be on any 'Best Of 2022' lists in the future, but this guy had a good time watching it and he's thrilled that Escobar got the win. Being honest, this is how Nakamura should be used these days. He isn't the future, after all.

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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.