9 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (29 Nov)
Ups...
9. It Pays To Be Roode
Robert Roode's main roster run has been defined, at various different times, by his music, his moustache, and most recently, his mates.
Indeed, after WWE had beaten the once-wonderful "Glorious" gimmick into the ground, torn asunder his enjoyable tag team with Chad Gable and made him grow back the beard he'd clearly been forced to shave one week, there appeared nothing left for the former TNA and NXT Champion beyond another doomed makeshift team with Dolph Ziggler.
He was, once upon a time, a f*cking exceptional pro wrestler. In there with another one, Roode was given 13 minutes to remind the world. Playing the experienced and focussed wrestling heel, the 'Glorious One' cut off and cut off and cut off to the point where the affable Birmingham crowd were frothing for 'The Big Dog's comeback.
They got their wish in spite of Baron Corbin's attempt to arm Roode with a scepter at the bitter end. The heels tried and failed to steal another winner's purse from SmackDown's biggest star, but his climactic success was only as well-received thanks to the exceptional work the wrestlers put in on the way.