6 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Oct 9)
2. A Break From The Norm
Breaks from the norm are always welcome from companies as vehemently formula-driven as WWE, and in starting last night's SmackDown with a match, the company gave the show a completely different feel. Kudos for that, and kudos for stepping away from the same weekly clichés.
Kicking things off with Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair meant we didn't have to sit through the textbook weekly revolving door opener. Those segments are usually solid, functional, and often fun, but rarely anything other than a 6/10. Though they're never awful, you get bored of watching slight variations on the same thing every single week. Thus, moments like this will always be an Up, and WWE deserve credit for starting last night's show hot.
They can't (and won't) do things like this every single week, but it'd be great to see the company flip the script more often.