6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (14 June - Results & Review)

by Jamie Kennedy

1. AJ Styles & Cody Rhodes Smash It

AJ Styles Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

Kudos to both AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes for how they handled a raucous live crowd on Friday. Both guys let the fans have their fun without letting heavy chanting overwhelm the points they had to make before heading into an "I Quit' match come Clash At The Castle. Composure like this is why these workers sit on top.

This was a top, top, top segment.

AJ brought up everywhere from New Japan and ROH to AEW, although he didn't actually name Tony Khan's promotion. He did, however, say that Cody "quit" on all of those companies (including one he helped start), which was fabulous heel trolling 101. That also appeared to get under Rhodes' skin.

Cody fired back by saying he only backed himself ("...and I was right") by moving on when things looked dire. He also resisted naming All Elite, but the fact WWE refuses to ignore Cody's recent history when it's useful to the story is really cool.

AJ and Rhodes held everyone's attention for a solid 15-20 minutes like true masters of their craft.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more wrestling, check out 10 Wrestlers Who NEED Out Of AEW and 10 Wrestlers Whose Careers TANKED After Winning Big!

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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.