6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Dec 2)

3. That Opening Banger

Sheamus Sami Zayn
WWE.com

It's probs no surprise given their collective experience, but Sami Zayn and Sheamus work incredibly well together. Neither man minds laying it in, and that physicality produced quite the hidden gem on this week's show. The story stuff between The Bloodline and Brawling Brutes was neat, and the match itself was class.

Go out of your way to watch it.

Plus, Sami scoring a win over someone as credible as Sheamus is a good sign that WWE does plan to do something with Zayn long-term. There's a big ol' push coming his way, possibly as an underdog babyface who gets booted from Roman Reigns' nest, so victories like this one do bolster his cred with fans.

Seeing Solo Sikoa, The Bloodline and Sheamus' buddies get involved made sense after the chaos of WarGames anyway. It would've been silly to expect both groups to sit back and let this bout play out one-on-one without some sort of continuation.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.