6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (1 May - Results & Review)

1. Gunther Pounces

Having Gunther chase Cody Rhodes for the WWE Title is a solid plan from Triple H and creative.

The Austrian is in a powerful position as a character after beating Seth Rollins at ‘Mania, and now he’s coming for SmackDown’s top prize. Fair enough. Sure, his brand jump kinda makes even more of a mockery of Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY getting teary about being on different shows, but that’s a minor gripe WWE clearly doesn't care about. The broader stroke is that Cody vs. Gunther will be fire in-ring.

There's no timeline in which this match stinks. None. Cody vs. Gunther will tear the roof off the place if they're on the schedule for Backlash. If not and WWE fancies waiting a little while longer to book it, then they'll have fans leaping out of their seats on another show instead. This is an automatic 9/10 bout at least, which must be satisfying for Hunter and chums to stick in their back pockets.

Gunther's sleeper/choke got a good response from Tulsa as well. It's taken out big legends like John Cena and AJ Styles in recent memory, so it's no wonder that people are reacting to the move like it's Kurt Angle's ankle lock or something. That's a credit to Gunther and the creative squad for putting it over so strongly.

The former Imperium leader battered Cody then held the WWE Title belt aloft high over his head as the boos poured in. It's a little surprising that WWE didn't go with this as the final image from SmackDown, but it worked regardless of where it fell on the format.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more wrestling, check out 10 Wrestlers WWE Protected In The WORST Way Possible and 10 Way Too Early Card Predictions For WWE WrestleMania 43!