8 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (9 May - Results & Review)
1. Something Felt Off
Some combos just don't exhibit any chemistry together, but companies won't find that out until they book them in a match together. Either this was an off night for Aleister Black, Carmelo Hayes or both, or they're in the 'no chemistry' camp as rivals. Something didn’t click between Black and Hayes on Friday night. In fact, they had a pretty boring match that failed to excite the live crowd like Street Profits vs. Fraxiom did before them.
Annoyingly, Black cut a pre-taped promo saying he wouldn’t speak in riddles then…spoke in more riddles too. Everyone's willing to give him a honeymoon period and all, and it's cool to see him back in WWE, but Aleister cannot go right back to cutting endless samey promos without really doing much of note around these parts yet again. WWE's creative team have to take some of the blame if he does.
Give him an actual storyline to work with, for crying out loud. Mini-feuding with The Miz and Hayes won’t cut it for too much longer. Last week on the 2 May SmackDown, Black showed he and The Miz could do something impactful, but this match vs. Melo sucked wind early on and didn't really pick up any steam from there. It was slow, lifeless and had a flat finish.
It certainly isn't the end of the world that two guys failed to gel or knit something great together. You live and learn, but WWE needs to come through for Aleister second time around. His pre-tape felt a little too 'pick a fight with meeeee', and that's concerning.