7 Ups & 9 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Jun 11)

5. Big E's Return, Blown

The New Day Big E
WWE.com

WWE.com's SmackDown preview set us up for a night largely built around Big E's in-ring comeback, and that's what we got. As well as wrestling in the main event, E was treated to a celebration segment with partners Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, and, unfortunately, it kind of sucked.

The New Day were fine. Of course they were, as they remain three of SmackDown's most engaging personalities, but things went south when they were done.

You're never going to believe this, right, but a WWE in-ring talking segment was interrupted! Wow! It was Dolph Ziggler, who spat a bunch of whiney guff about not deserving to lose to Kingston at Super ShowDown. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens then hit the stage, expressing their love for beating up The New Day and all kinds of generic toot, leading, apparently, to extra heat for the main event.

The last thing SmackDown needed was another lengthy talking segment and it's irritating that so few of these things go down without a bunch of other people showing up. Bland and unimaginative, this was WWE creative at their worst.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.