7 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Apr 24)

Knees to faces, fists to crotches...

Shinsuke Nakamura Karl Anderson
WWE.com

Somebody check the temperature in Hell, because SmackDown just delivered a third good-to-great show in a row

This week's success is even more impressive than the previous two. The writers didn't have a handy crutch like WrestleMania fallout or the Superstar Shake-Up to lean on, and were instead tasked with building their own show from scratch. Fortunately, they succeeded, and while not without flaws, these two hours were packed with fun moments.

The pre-show build-up largely revolved around The Miz and Daniel Bryan's first big face-to-face confrontation since the Shake-Up, but instead of delivering the predictable, SmackDown took a sharp left turn. Elsewhere, the AJ Styles/Shinsuke Nakamura rivalry continued with another testicle-squishing beatdown, The Club reconvened, and things hotted up in the United States Title scene, with Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton crossing paths once more.

New arrivals Andrade Almas and Sanity were restricted to video packages, but the IIonics were in action against Becky Lynch and Asuka. It was a night of great heel performances too, with Big Cass, Carmella, and Nakamura all knocking it out of the park.

Fans have every right to be excited by SmackDown at the moment. Road Dogg and his writers are killing it, and long may it continue...

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.