6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (11 Oct - Results & Review)

4. Carmelo Hayes Steps Up

LA Knight is loving life as United States titleholder.

He produced a cracking match vs. Andrade recently, and was clearly motivated to have another winner vs. Carmelo Hayes on Friday. Arguably, Hayes vs. Knight didn't match the 'El Idolo' bout, but it was still a good watch. There's something pleasing about the way LA is willing to lay out and fight from underneath. It's very Cody Rhodes-esque.

That's meant as a compliment, by the way. Knight was always good, but he's come on leaps and bounds as a character babyface who understands when to look vulnerable and when fans want to see him dominate. His willingness to go 50/50 at points helped considering nobody thought Melo was winning the gold anyway.

Andrade coming out to giggle at Hayes afterwards suggests a Triple Threat, which could be hard to promote when Knight has beaten both guys. However, GM Nick Aldis did line up yet another match between Andrade and Hayes backstage, so maybe not.

Fun bout, all things considered.