Best and Worst of SmackDown: Randy Orton asks Riddle to replace him with former Royal Rumble winner, Break-up set to happen after 16 months?

It was the penultimate episode of SmackDown before Hell in a Cell 2022. One would think that as a result, more matches for the premium live event would be announced. However, that isn't the case.

Whatever match has been announced for Hell in a Cell has been from RAW, which is ironic considering that they don't have a world champion present on the brand.

Either way, SmackDown was an improvement this week, and it was an entertaining episode overall. Here are the ups and downs from an eventful episode of the blue brand.

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#3. Best: The newly-formed duo on SmackDown

This week, Shinsuke Nakamura enlisted some help to get revenge on The Bloodline. While he doesn't have Rick Boogs, he got Riddle by his side following Randy Orton's injury from last week.

Riddle would reveal that while Nakamura was no Orton, it was actually the latter's idea for them to team up to take on The Usos. It was a good segment with the babyfaces looking strong, as well as a good spot for The Original Bro and Shinsuke Nakamura.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out going forward on SmackDown and how Roman Reigns will be involved.

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#2. Worst: Jinder Mahal and Shanky's SmackDown role

We're not even sure what happened in this match. Los Lotharios was set to take on Jinder Mahal and Shanky, which was fine. But when Mahal and Shanky were set to make their entrance, the former WWE Champion caught his giant tag team partner dancing in the locker room.

The match ended with a win for Los Lotharios, and Shanky would start dancing in front of announcer Samantha Irvin for no reason. It was weird and undoubtedly the low point of SmackDown this week.

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#2. Best: The women's division is moving along

Shotzi's rant backstage in the locker room saw her attempt to rile up Aliyah, Natalya, and Shayna Baszler. While she successfully did so with the two heels, Aliyah didn't seem to care and locked her inside the locker room to set up their feud.

Meanwhile, Ronda Rousey and Raquel Rodriguez went from being foes to friends quickly as Natalya and Baszler interrupted their match, leading to a tag team bout being made.

The babyfaces would win, and a Rousey-Baszler feud was teased. We like the direction of the SmackDown women's division right now.

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#1. Worst: A slightly underwhelming main event

Drew McIntyre was the surprise tag team partner of The New Day as they took on The Brawling Brutes in the main event of SmackDown. While we'll be the first to admit that McIntyre got a well-deserved reaction, it just didn't feel as though it was worthy of being the top-billed match of the show this week.

Xavier Woods picked up the win, and The Scottish Warrior ridiculously danced before hitting his signature pose with The New Day to end the show. It was fun, but certainly not good enough to be in the spot that it was.

It's also not great that WWE has nothing for Drew McIntyre despite getting him involved with Roman Reigns as recently as this month.

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#1. Best: The Kevin Owens-Sami Zayn segment on SmackDown

Without a shred of doubt, the best part of the blue brand this week was the KO Show featuring Sami Zayn. While they were buttering each other up with Kevin Owens calling Zayn a locker room leader and the latter telling KO that Elias and Ezekiel were the same, things would (un)surprisingly take a quick turn.

When Owens asked Zayn to join him on RAW, The Conspiracy Theorist declined due to his duties on SmackDown. KO questioned The Bloodline's appreciation for Sami Zayn and felt they were using him. Zayn would quickly turn and tell him that Elias and Ezekiel were two different people.

Everything about this segment was gold, and it just goes to show how incredible the two men are in the ring. They're so incredible that it may only be after their careers when their greatness is truly appreciated.