6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (28 Mar - Results & Review)

1. CM Punk Is Still Owed A Favour

Someone on socials suggested that booking has been backwards between CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. Explaining, they said that the big brawl those three guys had on last week's SmackDown needed to happen after this week's contract signing segment. It's hard to argue that point, but some backwards formatting didn't totally harsh the buzz on Friday.

The biggest story is that Punk finally has his WrestleMania main event. His three-way vs. Roman and Seth will headline night one. It took a while to get to the point (some of these entrances are long!), but his parting line was excellent: “Thank you, but that’s not the favour that I’m owed”; Paul Heyman’s face was a picture after hearing that, and Punk's line adds further intrigue into the idea that Heyman has been secretly plotting behind Roman’s back.

That, in turn, adds another layer to the story between these guys heading into the biggest shows of the year. Rollins having a meltdown ‘cause Punk is finally in the main event was logical too; he’s been consumed by the thought of holding Punk back since CM returned in 2023.

These contract signing skits can be tedious, but this was a heavyweight example of one done right. It didn’t even need to erupt into a brawl either. Yeah, yeah they probably should've kept that one back for after the fact/next week. Minor gripe though. Punk has his elusive 'Mania headline slot, and there's still some juice to squeeze from the Paul E situation other than that.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more wrestling, check out 15 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Mick Foley's Hell In A Cell and 8 Things We Learned From CM Punk On Stephanie McMahon's WWE Show!