WWE Fastlane 2018: 10 Things WWE Got Right

9. Putting Rusev Over On Commentary

Thank you, Corey Graves.

Thank you for realising that, although nobody believed he had a hope in hell of beating Shinsuke Nakamura, Rusev needed to retain some illusion of strength. Any aspiring colour commentator should hear Corey's performance here; he put Ru-Ru over big time and covered slower parts of the match nicely.

If only SmackDown's creative team could reflect what Graves was saying with their own booking of Rusev, the Bulgarian might still be one of the brand's top names instead of a mid-card comedy act. Corey, determined to shed the laughs for a moment, focused mainly on talking Rusev up as an "elite superstar" and "top contender".

This was great stuff, and it helped Nakamura too. By repeatedly hearing how tough Rusev was from the announcers, fans watching may view Shinsuke's rather routine win with more credibility. That can only be considered a good thing.