8 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (10 Sept)
3. Something's Mizzing
WWE.com
The Miz will take on Shinsuke Nakamura at this Sunday's Clash Of Champions to try and win a record-setting Intercontinental Title and was successful here against Andrade to set up the encounter and blah blah blah and etc and that sentence was only slightly less boring than this supposed iron-sharpener between the two.
Your writer is a Miz apologist, but this babyface run only partially works in the modern era because of the vast improvements in working style. Andrade's thrilling offering belongs beyond selling half-baked knees and kicks from an 'A-Lister' well adjusted to WWE style but not so hot with 2019 rhythms and beats.
A sloppy finish before the Skull Crushing Finale summed it up - fans weren't too bothered over the botch because they didn't have to be that bothered about the match, or the stakes, or the competitors, or 'The King Of Strong Style's post-match attack. This was Kickoff fodder on a main show, a mistake WWE hopefully don't make on Sunday.
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
