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

3. Johnny Gargano = Linda McMahon?!

Comparing Johnny f'n Gargano to Linda f'n McMahon was one of the last things anyone thought would happen in this SmackDown recap, but here we are. Linda earned one of the mightiest pops in company history at WrestleMania X-Seven when she stood up out of her wheelchair. Obviously, that subheading above is jokey, because this wasn’t on the same level, but Gargano did get one hell of a pop (piped in or otherwise) from Cleveland when he was shown vertical after CM Punk offered him a shot at the WWE Title.

What a cool moment.

Was it worth the wait with Gargano? Hmm, jury’s out on that, but still cool. He's been horizontal and staring blankly ahead since Tommaso Ciampa left to join AEW, so it's nice to actually see Johnny back on his feet and doing something else. It's daft, clearly, but the fact a shot at the WWE Championship was the thing to get him moving again did put over how important the belt is to everyone on the roster.

This might only last a week and then we'll be right back where we started, who knows? Fingers crossed that isn't the case, because Gargano showed what's still possible with him on Friday night. He was hyped, then delivered his best in-ring wrestling performance as a singles star in years. This was like a throwback to the glorious NXT days for 'Johnny Wrestling'.

Upon further inspection, SmackDown being pre-taped means some of that crowd response was defo sweetened. Awesome bit of camera panning after Candice LeRae said, "Oh my God" though.