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

5. Rewarding Fans Who Pay Attention

Over on Raw, WWE has done a fine job rewarding long-term fans by referencing Otis as Mr. MITB, his relationship with Mandy Rose and other moments from the archives. On SmackDown, creative banged that same drum by having Gargano single out Austin Theory to discuss their history on NXT and during Theory's earliest knockings on the main roster.

That was appreciated, and it hit home with the live crowd.

Johnny pointed out the obvious. Grayson is just using him to do most of the heavy lifting during matches so he can strut around as a tag champ. To hammer that home, Gargano rolled footage of Waller pulling Austin in front of him last week. Hilariously, an infuriated Grayson then claimed that was AI (which got a pop).

'Johnny Wrestling' was always going to be a valuable tool during Theory's turn from detestable jock jerk to likeable babyface. The way WWE's writers handled that history and Waller's own souring friendship with Austin was deft. It could be in-arena bias, but this was the best skit involving these teams yet.