6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (20 March - Results & Review)

4. This Pair Are Gold Together

Good lord above, what a match.

Yes, it still feels like Carmelo Hayes needs a proper, fleshed out feud and like Ilja Dragunov could use a heel turn, but man - this was a scorching, hard-hitting match for that United States Title. Dragunov’s intensity is often unmatched, and Hayes has been clicking as a babyface. The next step is giving both something meaningful in terms of character development and storyline. These guys richly deserve the chance to do more than ‘Open Challenges’ or babyface vs. babyface battles.

Another excellent match for this week's SmackDown though. Towards the end, this was PLE quality. Hopefully, losing forces Ilja to get nasty. He has the required intensity to fly as a heel, especially if he turns on Melo out of frustration over being unable to topple him for a title he once held. That, dear readers, is a simple, straightforward and solid enough story. There's no need to over-egg the pudding when the in-ring work is this powerful.

'I'm so sick of being a bridesmaid Melo'. That should be Ilja's point. It's a standard wrestling heel skewed one, but it's something to work with. Then, how about actually putting them on a PLE as a reward for all of this hard graft in the US Title scene? That'd be lovely.

Hayes and Dragunov are gold together. They're wrestling soulmates, and Friday night made that obvious. Developing their rivalry and leaning into Ilja as a bad guy would take things up a notch and sprinkle soap opera drama on their sensational wrestling.