8 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Dec 18)

5. An Overdue Comeback

Jeff Hardy Samoa Joe
WWE.com

Nothing special but something necessary, the danger in modern WWE is that its heel performers are so much more entertaining than the babyfaces they’ve no bloody idea how to book—and this leads to endless heat segments that serve only to undermine the supposed protagonists.

Joe, as promised, apologised to Jeff Hardy with an expected bait and switch—so just a “bait”, then—but Joe is such a magnificent, imposing d*ckhead that the familiarity hardly mattered. You could book Joe in a programme with his own mother, and he’d convince us all that he can’t stand the sight of her.

Any analysis of this rivalry, most WWE rivalries, is always going to be centred on the heel—but Jeff was allowed a belated burn of a comeback, in which he challenged Joe’s lack of tangible main roster success.

Ending not in a fatalistic beatdown but a redemptive Twist of Fate, SmackDown continued its vastly underrated streak of presenting absorbing storylines outside of the various title pictures.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!