7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (5 June - Results & Review)

1. A Great, Multi-Layered Opening Segment

Gunther gatecrashed the show's open from the commentators to complain about what happened at Clash In Italy. He had his foot underneath the bottom rope, so the ref shouldn’t have counted. Then, the 'Ring General' referred to Cody Rhodes as “golden boy” before the WWE Champ emerged to deal with the uproar. Then, adding to the drama, Sami Zayn came out to interject, and said that Cody keeps overlooking him to deal with other threats.

Eventually, Gunther pushed Rhodes into Sami and choked Cody, then Zayn made the save before Rhodes accidentally blasted him with a dive to the outside. After that "mistake" from the champ, Sami ignored Cody’s handshake and walked off. Wow, they’re really telling a strong story with all 3 guys here. Their motivations are clear, and the character work is excellent.

Could anyone else go a Cody vs. Gunther rematch imminently? That's apparently coming on SmackDown in a few weeks, so it'll be awesome to find out where the story rockets to from there. Rhodes vs. Sami is also on the table for Saturday Night's Main Event, Night Of Champions or whenever, and so is a Triple Threat. The fact there's so much to work with here and all of it is interesting - that’s the sign of good booking.

Rhodes has successfully sustained his babyface run whilst tossing some mystique about a possible heel future into the mixture, Gunther is well within his rights to be mad at the standard of refereeing, and Zayn is just smashing it now he has that Gingerbread Man business in the rear view mirror.

More of this, please x2.

What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more wrestling, check out The WORST Moment From EVERY WWE SummerSlam and 10 Most INSANE Promises Wrestling Promoters Made To Wrestlers!