6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Oct 2)
2. A Confidence-Boosting Win
When Michael Cole is on, he's on.
This week, WWE's lead announcer did an admirable job constantly hammering home the narrative that Jey Uso was growing in confidence the longer his match with AJ Styles raged on. Often, his statements coincided with a cut off spot from AJ, or some hope shine from Jey that only complemented his story.
That's terrific broadcasting, and it did a lot to present Uso as somebody who's building his portfolio as a singles star in his brother's absence. Jey's push is one of 2020's nicest surprises thus far - he rocked against Reigns at Clash, and he must be looking forward to doing the same at HIAC on 25 October.
Any win over AJ is nothing to be sniffed at, and this was a clean one. Then, Uso left the ring muttering, "I'm gonna' get him" over and over again as Cole barked about how Reigns might've motivated his cousin to succeed. This was a top class half hour of TV from start to finish.