6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (4 Apr - Results & Review)

1. The Strength Of Something So Simple

Whilst it's definitely a shame that Seth Rollins is coming across as a third wheel in the story, it's also true that CM Punk, Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman owned every second of their shared screen time on Friday night. The big lure? Punk revealing what the mysterious favour he'd asked of Heyman was. It turns out that CM wanted Paul in his corner at WrestleMania 41.

That didn't sit well with Roman, naturally. He laughed it off before getting heated at his "Wise Man" for refusing to say no. The sheer strength of this booking comes from its simplicity. Heyman has been cast as a mental edge for Reigns since his 'Tribal Chief' rebirth in 2020, and now the 'OTC' is walking into 'Mania alone for the first time in a long time.

In fact, 'Mania 41 will be the first time Roman has nobody watching his back for the landmark event since he worked vs. Drew McIntyre back in 2019. He was an unwanted babyface back then, but things are so different nowadays. As always, there was some great mic work from Punk, Heyman and Reigns when setting all of this up.

Punk is playing mind games with his opponent and removing the Heyman factor all at once. Now, if only Triple H could find a way to make Seth feel like more than just a hanger on, that'd be wonderful. He really does need to start piping up more during these segments, but the 'Paul will stand with me at WrestleMania' announcement from Punk worked a treat.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more wrestling, check out 13 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Ludvig Borga and 8 Things We Learned From Cody Rhodes On Stephanie McMahon's WWE Show!