6 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Nov 22)

2. No Win In The Windy City

Baron Corbin Ali SmackDown
WWE.com

The night's main event was a very underwhelming affair, pitting Roman Reigns, Chad Gable (we're not going to call him that) and Ali taking on Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode. Given the personel, we could have reasonably expected something more electric than than the general nothingness we got, five whole minutes of which were excised for commercial.

Perhaps this was designed so as not to undermine the show closing brawl that'd follow, as backwards as that thinking is. The finish was definitely set up to antagonise the crowd, as Corbin somehow beat hometown hero Ali with the Deep Six. It's important to build up the strength of signature moves ahead of a show where a kick can be a legitimate finish in elimination matches, but this just seemed like an unnecessary insult.

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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.