9 Ups & 1 Down From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Sept 25)

Downs...

1. This Wasn't Necessary

Samoa Joe is very good.

A searing, intense talker, he could take the average person's shopping list and turn it into a compelling promo, such is his skill on the microphone. You believe every word that comes out of his mouth, and he remains an effective in-ring stalker too, hunting opponents down like a ravenous predator, even if his athleticism isn't what it was five years ago.

Samoa Joe's written material, last night, was very bad.

This is a cringey C-movie drama lifted from your Dad's DVD collection and slotted into WWE programming. Though Joe's performance almost made it worthwhile, this lame 'Pillman's got a gun' recreation reeks of try-hard soap opera writers forcing a narrative. It's cheesy, hackneyed, corny, and completely undermining the WWE Championship, as the feud is all about little Annie's toy doll and Daddy coming home, not the gold.

The worst thing is that WWE didn't even need to take this route, as Joe and AJ Styles are more than strong enough to carry a traditional competitive build through several pay-per-view arcs without losing steam. This is a sports entertainment company, not a wrestling promotion, so we expect a certain level of melodrama... but subjectively, this is too much.