9 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (1 Nov)

4. Confusion Of The Highest Order

Paul Heyman SmackDown
WWE.com

If you ignore the looming possibility of a Wild Card rule and Rey Mysterio and Cain Velasquez chopping and changing between shows, everything Paul Heyman said about the network's contractual restrictions made perfect sense, and emphasised the extent to which Brock wants to kill Rey in breach of them.

It's just a pity, then, that the whole premise was repeatedly and directly undermined by the narrative for the entire show, which saw about a dozen NXT superstars, presumably contractually obliged to USA Network - even though those contracts have not been updated since the deal - invade proceedings.

Does this mean repercussions for the whole bally lot of them? Has Triple H, quite irresponsibly, led his entire brand into a legal minefield? It's hard to believe that the rule strictly applies to someone of Brock Lesnar's unparalleled agency, but not the Full Sail crew. Get Clarence Mason on the phone.

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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.