9 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown 1000 (Oct 16)

6. Surpassing Raw 25

WWE Raw 25
WWE.com

Raw 25's myriad of problems meant there was a degree of trepidation heading into SmackDown 1000. That show brought multi-venue chaos, a lack of legitimately fun surprises, and The Revival's needless burials, but if last night is anything to go by, WWE learned their lesson. This surpassed Raw 25 in every way.

Nostalgia ran wild, but never at the expense of current roster members. At no point did the past screw the present. This is big, because the company love trumpeting history above all else, and an Andrade Almas or Killian Dain could've easily left this show with their credibility in tatters after falling victim to Evolution's finisher roulette. In avoiding this and pushing a number of pay-per-view stories forward, the company built a fair, balanced show that nodded to the past throughout, yet never lost track of the now.

We're essentially rewarding WWE for not being awful here. There's a degree of absurdity to that, but they did a nice job balancing last night's SmackDown.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.