8 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Mar 20)
Downs…
3. 'Perfect 10' Makes Up The Numbers
WWE
Tye Dillinger's loss to Baron Corbin wasn't overtly a black mark on his current WWE run, but only because said tenure has fallen flatter than the laminated piece of paper he used to keep in his trunks on NXT.
A sad example of creative malaise, Tye's neglect over the last 12 months hasn't exactly benefitted anybody, which is why another defeat against Baron Corbin didn't exactly do much to raise 'The Lone Wolf's profile ahead of both men entering WrestleMania 34's Andre The Giant Battle Royal.
Commentators gave it their best, with overstatements of Corbin's middling 'Mania record used to try and heat up a passable arc that he could be the contest's first ever two-time winner, but Baron's stock is still so low from his disastrous summer programme with John Cena that the mere mention of the statistic only degradates the prestige of the meaningless pre-show trophy further.
Expect Corbin and Mojo Rawley to fight over exactly that before the 'Show Of Shows', as SmackDown Live! continues to fill its undercard with the two-minute dross squashes from NXT's 2015 golden era.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
