8 Ups & 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Aug 27)

by Andy H Murray

1. Ali & Murphy Go Hard

Buddy Murphy Ali
WWE.com

Every single week, without fail, WWE throw a bunch of compound around adjectives when captioning their photo gallery uploads. It's very them, and usually manifests as a Baron Corbin chinlock-fest being described as "bone-crushing" or a three-minute Cedric Alexander bout in which he leaves his feet twice going down as "gravity-defying." It's rarely earned, is the point, but last night's was.

"Ali tangles with Murphy in pulse-pounding King of the Ring bout," they wrote. They were right.

Big Buddy continued his recent TV hot streak with another banger against Ali, reprising their old 205 Live rivalry. Never intended to meet the stunning heights of their previous bouts, it was great professional wrestling nonetheless, as Ali matched Murphy's trademark sugar rushes with some of his own, highlighted by the beautiful spinning DDT that led to the 054 splash and the 1-2-3.

If the Great Buddy Murphy Singles Match is to become a regular SmackDown trope then so be it. We'll take this over the Boring In-Ring Opening Segment any week. Here, the former Cruiserweight kingpin looked excellent again. Your writer can't wait to see who he ties up with next.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.