WWE SmackDown Smacks and Downs: Bray Wyatt fiends with no crowd

Smack: give me every variation of Bryan/Gulak vs. Artist Collective

-After a fantastic match at Elimination Chamber last Sunday, Bryan and Gulak appear to be a team, one I am excited about seeing for the next few months.

I love Zayn, Nakamura, and Cesaro both individually and as a group.

Build to Money in the Bank by having every variation of singles and tag matches between the two teams. Zayn could even have an Intercontinental Championship defense he retains through nefarious means, and then have Zayn-Bryan for the title at the PPV.

Whatever the case, these five can and will work magic together, so let’s hope they are given adequate time and a good story.

Down: Corbin, Corbin, Corbin

-I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: begone, Corbin! The gimmick needs to go, his acting needs help, and he gets “go away” heat rather than genuine heel heat (like MJF). Write him off and repackage him because he has skills in the ring.

Down: did we really need to see the ENTIRE EC match?

-Simply put, no. With the commercials added in, it just seemed like WWE wanted to drag out an hour. Maybe they didn’t have as many wrestlers on hand, but with NXT right there, why not have some matches with NXT wrestlers like in November? Wouldn’t it have been dope if Bianca Belair confronted Bayley to challenge her for the title at WrestleMania?

Before you scoff, remember that’s exactly what Reigns did to “earn” his shot.

Hit (mostly): Triple H on commentary

-While some moments made me cringe (he acted a little too much like it was 1998 again), Triple H brought a bit of much needed levity to the broadcast, often at the expense of Cole. He even poked fun at his reported demotion, grabbed a studio camera like The Rock once did, and also helped Cole with his makeup:

Triple H like this in doses is nice, though it does once again blur the line between corporate, heelish Triple H, NXT Godfather Triple H, and sophomoric DX Triple H.

It was a weird show, but also a harbinger of what’s to come for WWE. Let’s hope for next week’s show, they shore up the issues with Reigns and hopefully have more planned than a rerun of a PPV match. See you then!