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There were good aspects about this week's episode of WWE SmackDown, but honestly speaking, it wasn't one of those SmackDown episodes that you rush to call up your friends and tell them about. It had its good moments and not-so-good ones but overall, it was just okay.
Let me state right at the start of this article that there is a very powerful movement going on in the world of professional wrestling, but I shall keep this SmackDown analysis free from it. It's not my place to pass judgment until all the facts have come to light and I can only hope that everyone who has been affected adversely finds a measure of relief in due course of time.
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I shall treat this SmackDown review, until then, merely as that and invite you to leave a comment in the section below as always, with your thoughts and views on what you thought of the show.
#1 Best: Mandy Rose slaps The Miz on SmackDown
Can we please have a round of applause for Sonya Deville, who just seems to be the most improved performer on WWE SmackDown at the moment? Every promo she cuts is full of passion and even though she buries Mandy Rose in every single promo, it just elevates her real-life best friend to a new level, every single week on WWE SmackDown.
But the slap on SmackDown that was heard around the globe from Mandy Rose also speaks of yet another interesting possibility. I can absolutely imagine Maryse returning to SmackDown and the team of Miz and Maryse teaming up to take on Otis and Mandy Rose.
Had Taya Valkryie been a part of WWE, imagine how many interesting possibilities we would have been able to see!
#1 Worst: Matt Riddle's SmackDown debut had a central issue
This may be a personal grouse of mine but I hate it when any Superstar wins a title and loses the following match. I get that Matt Riddle had to look strong on his first SmackDown outing and it just seemed like there was a whole roster waiting in the wings to go out and tear it up with The King of Bros.
A title is only as strong as the man (or woman) that holds it which is why Cody Rhodes defending the AEW TNT Championship every single week in a strong match on Dynamite makes so much sense. The Intercontinental Championship hasn't been booked very strongly on SmackDown if you consider that Braun Strowman wasn't exactly your typical workhorse Champion and if you also consider that Sami Zayn hasn't been around too often.
WWE had a chance to remedy this with AJ Styles but I just think that him losing to Matt Riddle in his very first official SmackDown outing (if you ignore the Survivor Series build) did him no favors.
#2 Best: Bray Wyatt returns to his swamp cult persona on WWE SmackDown
It would have been far too easy to bring back The Fiend on WWE SmackDown to face Braun Strowman, and yes, of course, that is what all of us would be expecting anyway. But by bringing back the Swamp Cult Leader persona on SmackDown, Bray Wyatt pretty much is psychologically dissecting the past with Braun Strowman and it is a throwback that I doubt too many people would mind.
I really enjoyed the work Bray Wyatt was doing in that particular persona and I am glad to see this gimmick return on SmackDown, as opposed to say, what he was doing with Matt Hardy.
Even though I doubt that Bray Wyatt will become the WWE Universal Champion at Extreme Rules, I can still imagine him as the face of WWE SmackDown in a far more realistic manner, than say, the tag team of Miz and Morrison, in whose case the result of the match with Braun Strowman was evident from the start.
#2 Worst: Shorty G's height and the lack of creativity on SmackDown
Did anyone at all expect Mojo Rawley to defeat Shorty G on SmackDown this week? I don't think so. And yet, when he stood tall and proud (not a short joke, I promise) on SmackDown, Michael Cole mentioned what a major upset it was, and Corey Graves, the voice of reason, would then correct him.
But this leads us to an even bigger issue which is that the short jokes on SmackDown seem to have gone on forever and Shorty G has not really gone anywhere since this whole gimmick began.
There could be so many significantly more creative ways to take this talented young man to the next level but from the looks of it, no real amount of time has been spent by the SmackDown creative team on his character. And while Mojo Rawley is certainly getting more screen time on SmackDown, he seems to be stuck in a limbo where he's neither moving forward nor backward at this point in time.
#3 Best/Worst: Is Nikki Cross getting a singles push or not on SmackDown?
Because Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross have such distinct personas, I loved that Cross was getting solo screen time on SmackDown this week. But at the same time, if this was a push for her, shouldn't she have pinned Sasha Banks?
I love the fact that WWE is trying something new and the unhinged part of Nikki Cross' persona is emerging on WWE SmackDown, but I have to say that this is one case where Sasha Banks could have afforded to take a loss even if she is going into a match with The IIconics on RAW. Yes, she is the current reigning and defending women's tag team Champion but this was a singles match.
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