7 Ups & 0 Downs From WWE SmackDown (15 Nov - Results & Review)
6. Character Development > One Off Matches
Some ice cold title challenges turn out to be winners, but it's often better to use weekly TV as a means to develop characters and stories over booking matches for the sake of matches. WWE got it right on Friday by having Tommaso Ciampa run in to ruin The Street Profits vs. Motor City Machine Guns title bout. That was the right call. As the subheading says: Character development > random one-off matches.
Ciampa has cut a frustrated figure lately. He feels The Profits jumped right in front of DIY, and he doesn't think Johnny Gargano is annoyed enough about that. Tommaso has also expressed frustrations that his partner seems content to play good buddies with the new champs Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley - he's prioritising friends over titles . That all came to a head here when Ciampa shoved Gargano down post-DQ and then stormed off.
Adding to the chaotic vibes, Angelo Dawkins clocked Sabin when MCMG apologised for what happened. Going heel with DIY is a grand idea, although it obviously remains to be seen if Gargano will join Ciampa in that camp. Meanwhile, The Profits have needed a nastier edge like this for a while, so this was a positive step for them. They've been treading water big time since it became clear writers didn't give a toss about their faction with Bobby Lashley earlier in 2024.
The Machine Guns and Profits could've produced a top match if they had more minutes, but story was more important than match quality this time. Heel DIY vs. Sabin and Shelley will be something to keep an eye on, assuming that's the plan.