6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Nov 25)

Ups...

6. Santos Escobar Advances

Legado del Fantasma Santos Escobar Zelina Vega
WWE.com

Behold a better surprise.

Is Santos Escobar beating Butch a surprise? Well, yeah, it is in a sense. After all, the artist formerly known as Pete Dunne has been earning rave reviews for his work alongside Sheamus and Ridge Holland in The Brawling Brutes, and he's part of the WarGames main event this weekend.

That must be why Butch was ousted from World Cup contention and WWE went with Escobar. Sure, it's slightly disappointing that Dunne vs. GUNTHER won't be happening anytime soon, but creative can always get round to that eventually. Besides, it's hard to begrudge Santos some success.

He and his Legado del Fantasma stable really need something to pin their hopes on for this main roster run, and becoming the first ever winner of the 'SmackDown World Cup' would be "something". Also, the match was predictably slick and well-worked.

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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.