6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Jan 20)
Bray Wyatt returns "home"; WWE pays tribute to Jay Briscoe; Roman Reigns plays mind games.
"Try to give you warning, but everyone ignores me. Told you everything loud and clear, but nobody's listening!".
Linkin Park penned those lyrics for the track, 'Nobody's Listening' off their classic record Meteora. Little did Chester Bennington and the boys know that they were actually writing about WWE's booking of one Charlotte Flair. Not really, obviously, but those words do fit what's happening with the SmackDown Women's Champ.
Triple H must be deaf, because he's totally ignoring the fact that Flair is struggling as a babyface. This will not end well unless WWE pivots - fans don't accept Charlotte as a goodie, and she's clearly uncomfortable in the role too. So, what's the bloody point in booking it?!
Better things are happening elsewhere, at least. This week's show added even more depth to the cracking Sami Zayn/Roman Reigns/Kevin Owens/Bloodline story, and Bray Wyatt did his best Angry Video Game Nerd impression by taking you "back to the past" by way of his old haunts.
WWE also pressed on with a tournament to establish new SmackDown Tag Title contenders for The Usos, but quality is very-much a mixed bag on that side of things.
Here's all the good and bad from Smackers' penultimate stop before Royal Rumble.