Another episode of SmackDown is in the books, meaning it’s time to look back at the show to identify the highs and lows of an episode that featured Rey Fenix defending the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship against Ricky Saints.
The Good
Cody Rhodes
If you thought would have big things planned for SmackDown coming out of Money in the Bank, you were dead wrong. This show felt like pure filler. Probably the most noteworthy thing we got here was Rhodes finally pulling the trigger and doing the Randy Orton punt. It didn’t look great, and the fact that it happened to Baron Corbin was a bit deflating, but at least it represented some progression on a story beat that’s been moving at a snail’s pace. The match itself was short and forgettable, and the DQ ending was uninspired.
Other Highlights
- There wasn’t a ton of substance to Sami Zayn’s promo, but that bit where he fired up on Trick Williams was good stuff. Not sure it did Williams any favors, though.
- Fenix and Saints had easily the best match on the show, though even that comes with a caveat after that dopey ending (also a disqualification).
- Kevin Owens and CM Punk had a good, albeit brief, backstage segment with Nick Aldis. There’s still plenty of meat on the bone here. I just hope it isn’t dragged out indefinitely.
The Bad
Trick Williams
If anyone was more poorly booked at Money in the Bank than Je’Von Evans, it was Williams, who would just pop up now and then to do a spot and then vanish. He was a complete afterthought in the match, which makes him coming out to interrupt Zayn odd to me. If you wanted to push Williams to that level, maybe don’t have him be the sixth-most important guy in a six-man match. He then took it on the chin in that promo segment with Zayn. His match with Johnny Gargano was fine but pointless. Why not have Zayn interfere to have Gargano win to set up a United States Championship match? I haven’t liked what they’ve done with Williams over the last week-plus.
Other Lowlights
- Paige and Nikki Bella didn’t have a terrible match, but everything surrounding it was bad. The prematch segment with Chelsea Green set up Bella as the No. 1 contender only to have her lose where the face cheated. It was a “turnabout is fair play” moment. I get that. What I don’t get is having Bella lose right after being granted a title shot. Also, I can’t believe we’re still doing the John Cena/New Day nods. It’s 2026. Cena is retired. New Day is in AEW. Move on.
- That was a rough landing for R-Truth. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious. It’s a tough deal for Damian Priest, too, as that might blunt his momentum.
- I thought we wrapped up the Gunther and Danhausen stuff last week. Why must everything get dragged out in WWE right now? Just have Finn Balor come out as the Demon and get the one-on-one matchup with Gunther booked. They’re stretching a three-week story across two months (or more).
The Ugly
Screwy Finishes
This isn’t the first time I’ve called out the finishes on this list, and it probably won’t be the last. In five matches, we had one clean win (where an interference finish arguably made the most sense), a ref stoppage, a face cheating to beat a heel, and two disqualifications. The ref stuff in the Fenix—Saints match was particularly weak. We see spots like that all the time where the official ignores it. Having him call it here came across as lame.
Related: WWE Raw Review for Oct. 12: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
