WWE SmackDown Live!: 10 Things You Might Have Missed (Oct 10)

3. Winners And Losers

Aiden English Shinsuke Nakamura Randy Orton
WWE.com

The match wasn't particularly great and it remains deeply unsatisfying to see Rusev (and to a lesser extent, his newest awesome sidekick Aiden English) take another comprehensive beating, but it was impossible not to be wowed by the renewed main event sparkle on Shinsuke Nakamura within literally one show of his demoralising loss to Jinder Mahal.

Mahal's pedigree as WWE Champion is so low (more on that later), that it looked as though the 'King Of Strong Style/Artist/Rockstar's future trajectory was as muddled as the company's nickname generator. However, just five minutes looking like a a sh*t-kicker alongside the teflon 'Viper' made him feel like a big deal all over again.

The last time the pair teamed, Orton dropped Nakamura with an RKO ahead of their match the following week, but the 'Apex Predator' felt less of a need to cut his partner's legs off this time and it didn't half make for a nicer time. Randy too has proven to be morbidly entertaining when forced to team with others - could this be the start of a bizarrely beneficial bromance?

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett