8 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Nov 6)
2. Old Vs. New
Concerns on Almas' position within the company aside, 'Cien's' singles clash with Rey Mysterio was a big success. It was a fun eight-minuter in which the former NXT Champion enjoyed plenty of offense, battering his opponent with the majority of his signature spots, before falling to Rey's own, eating the pinfall after a rana, 619, and the Drop of the Dime.
The match was laid out in order to present Almas as being on Mysterio's level. This shows that whatever road agent put it together is at least conscious that Andrade needs protection, but regardless of opponent, you can't have a guy lose every important match he's in without eventually typecasting him as a loser. That's a danger, so let's hope the habit ends soon.
It'd be great to see what these two could do on a bigger stage, with a bigger audience, at the heart of an important storyline. Perhaps we'll get to see that someday, but regardless, this first-time clash between old and new mostly delivered, and gave Rey a nice warm-up prior to Survivor Series.