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This week, WWE SmackDown delivered quite an entertaining episode. The Blue brand had more positives than negatives, and the writers mostly did well in advancing crucial storylines ahead of the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view. We saw interesting developments in top feuds, and needless to say, the show was miles ahead of its Monday counterpart.
In this article, we will take a look at superstars who impressed on WWE SmackDown last night and those who didn’t.
#1 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Jey Uso
This week on WWE SmackDown, The Usos got the opportunity to challenge Rey and Dominik Mysterio for the tag team titles twice. Both teams first met in the opening match of the show, and all four superstars looked impressive. However, Jey Uso deserves a special accolade for his role tonight as the storyline progressed throughout the episode.
Before their first match, Roman Reigns spoke with his cousins and wished them the best of luck for the match. But he also warned them about not embarrassing him and their family by losing in an important match. He also reminded Jey about impending doom. Next, we saw The Usos engage in an epic match with The Mysterios on WWE SmackDown.
Jey Uso did exceptionally well reading each of Rey Mysterio’s moves and devising quick but effective counters. It helped him maintain dominance for most of the match. His brief ringside brawl with Dominik was also well-executed. Not to forget, The Usos looked well and truly back, mainly because Jimmy Uso showed glimpses of his old self on WWE SmackDown. That said, he is understandably taking it slow.
Dominik managed to pin Jimmy for the win in the closing moments of this match, but it was an incorrect decision. The match official didn’t see that his shoulder was up, and hence, The Usos got another match. Both teams once again faced each other in the main event of WWE SmackDown, and Jey Uso once again looked like the most vicious superstar inside the ring.
However, this time again, Rey and Dominik Mysterio came close to pinning Jimmy Uso. Thus, Roman Reigns decided to interfere, and he took out the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions. He first took Rey Mysterio out of the equation and then continued to brutalize Dominik. Jimmy refused to aid Reigns in his monstrous plan, but Jey Uso stayed in the ring.
The latter’s conflicted mind was convincingly put on display as he contemplated choosing between Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso. He can align with his brother or continue his dominant run as Reigns’ right-hand man. Jey Uso will undoubtedly play an instrumental role in this narration as we advance, and he is doing incredibly well in keeping the fans invested in this WWE SmackDown storyline.
#2 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns kickstarted this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown alongside Paul Heyman as both of them reminded fans of their dominance. For all the criticism that he has received in the past over his mic skills, the reigning Universal Champion deserves credit for his recent improvement in promos. Tonight, he proved that he could carry interesting promos all by himself.
Reigns then summoned both his cousins and made it clear that their only option was to win. When The Usos lost their first match, their ‘Tribal Chief’ warned them about the consequences of failing. Reigns ended up interfering during the second match when he saw that Dominik Mysterio was close to winning the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Title match once again.
He also brutalized Dominik to send a strong message. Jimmy Uso disagreed with Reigns’ actions, but that didn’t bother him enough to stop. Instead, his glare stopped Jey Uso from stepping out of the ring. Reigns came across as a brutal heel, and it added more credibility to his character. His assault on Dominik also means that we could see a feud between him and Rey Mysterio develop on WWE SmackDown sooner rather than later.
#3 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio has quietly been one of the strongest performers on WWE SmackDown for the last few months. This week was no different as the masked legend delivered not one but two epic matches against opponents that he had never faced before. Rey took a lot of punishment in the first match, but he was resilient enough to stay in the fight, as is always the case.
He had spells of dominance during his individual encounters with both Jey and Jimmy Uso. The Usos mostly cornered Rey Mysterio, but he eventually managed to find his way out. He also stopped his opponents from making illegal moves from the ringside. He has won multiple titles in the promotion, but the WWE SmackDown Superstar is still working as hard as he did when he was at the pinnacle of the sport.
We saw Roman Reigns' vicious assault on Dominik in the main event, which won’t sit well with Rey Mysterio. However, we could see him going out of his way to confront the Universal Champion for his actions, and that could lead to a title feud. The possibilities are endless, and it will be interesting to see how the creative will move ahead with this storyline on WWE SmackDown.
#4 Impressed on WWE SmackDown: Apollo Crews
Another title match on this week’s WWE SmackDown saw Apollo Crews successfully defend his Intercontinental Championship against Kevin Owens. Unfortunately, KO went into this match with a huge disadvantage. Although Commander Azeez was barred from the ringside for this title match, that didn’t stop him from brutally attacking Owens backstage.
Crews took full advantage of the situation and continued to assault Owens’ already bruised midsection. The champion looked strong in the match, and the challenger also deserves credit for the incredible storytelling. Despite the fact that Crews had an early and unfair advantage, he fought impressively to capitalize on the same and defended his gold on WWE SmackDown.
Once KO lost the match, he was left struggling inside the squared circle rolling in pain. This prompted Sami Zayn to walk out and deliver a Helluva Kick to his friend turned foe. He even reminded Owens that this is how it feels when someone kicks their friend when they are already down. Both superstars might engage in a feud on WWE SmackDown going forward. As for Crews, he will be looking for new challenges on the Blue brand.
#1 Flopped on WWE SmackDown: Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins returned on WWE SmackDown this week to deliver another promo. As is usually the case, he talked about how he doesn’t ‘need’ to talk about his actions. In this context, the actions meant his assault on Cesaro a couple of weeks ago. After listening to his explanation, we once again don’t know if he has moved on from this feud.
Seth Rollins is an incredible babyface superstar and even better heel. Unfortunately, his current run as a villain is laughable at best because he barely has enough matches to back his actions. So either he is not booked for segments, or he is thrust into extremely long storylines that run well beyond their course on WWE SmackDown.
Rollins can be very entertaining as an opportunistic heel. With the Money In The Bank pay-per-view on the horizon, this is the perfect time to build him up as a cunning heel. But no amount of storytelling will amount to anything worthy if his claims aren’t backed by in-ring dominance.
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