Friday's episode of WWE SmackDown should have paid tribute to Triple H, who was celebrating a quarter-century with the company, but it instead served as a painful reminder of how much a shell of its former self the blue brand has become.
With only one real long-term storyline to speak of and lacking any real star power, it feels very much like the B-show in Vince McMahon's sports-entertainment empire.
Still, even with the product as lackluster as it is, there was no lack of topics worth buzzing about, for better or worse.
What are they, and what, if any, impact will they have on the brand going forward?
Find out with this recap of Friday's Fox broadcast.
Triple H is one of the greatest stars in WWE history and to argue otherwise is silly. He is one of the most decorated champions ever, a star of multiple eras and the driving force behind the youth movement that is NXT. There will always be those who seek to discredit him by claiming his success is down to nepotism or backstage politicking. But when all is said and done, he stands atop a mountain with very select company.
That is why the closing segment of Friday's show was so damn disappointing.
WWE was not paying homage to a second-rate star from a bygone era. No, it was paying tribute to one of the biggest, most recognizable and powerful performers the industry has ever seen. Yet its execution of the Triple H 25th Anniversary segment was abysmal, even bordering on embarrassing.
Yes, the lack of crowd involvement totally hurt the comedic bits The Game and best bud Shawn Michaels provided, but even then, there is no way anyone could have looked at was planned (or not) and thought it befitted a star of his magnitude.
Maybe he wanted something lower-key, more lighthearted and fun. Perhaps he was perfectly fine with his father-in-law mumbling whatever it was he was saying at the close of the show. If so, fine, but someone should have stepped up and shot down what aired.
Triple H is a visionary beyond the squared circle. As great as he was there, he concocted this idea for NXT, revolutionizing the developmental system. He envisioned a state-of-the-art performance center, without which we would not be watching WWE television during the coronavirus pandemic. Nor would we have had WrestleMania 36.
His influence on the company over the past two decades is immeasurable, and he deserved better than the half-assed attempt at comedy he and the fans got Friday.
The one bright spot on SmackDown of late has been the intensifying issues between women's champion Bayley and her best friend, Sasha Banks.
With every passing week, it is becoming more and more evident that Bayley is using The Legit Boss for her own benefit and then coming up short when it is time to return the favor. Such was the case this Friday, when Bayley conveniently provided a distraction, intentionally or not, that prevented Banks from scoring a rollup victory and allowed Lacey Evans to recover to deliver The Woman's Right for the win.
The tension that existed between Banks and Bayley was evident during and after the match, with the former becoming increasingly tired of the champion's selfishness. While she did not blow up on her friend, it is clear those two will be doing battle over the top prize on the blue brand before long.
Getting there may feel like an eternity, though, for fans who have had to endure the rest of the show.
The Bayley-Banks storyline has been the best thing the company has going and most of that can be attributed to the fact that WWE Creative has opted to take its time rather than concluding the storyline prematurely. It has allowed things to fester, for emotions to take grasp and for fans to want to see The Boss beat the hell out of the self-proclaimed role model and take the title.
It is working, and that moment—hopefully at SummerSlam—will be worth the wait.
Sheamus returned to much fanfare in January thanks to a series of vignettes that had The Celtic Warrior denouncing the complacency that he believed had engulfed WWE. His first feud was with Shorty G and Apollo Crews, and if that were not enough to kill his momentum dead on the spot, he appears poised to be fed to the returning Jeff Hardy in a midcard rivalry on a brand that could benefit from his star power.
You would not know it based on the way he has been promoted and pushed since returning, but Sheamus is one of the most decorated performers of his generation. A former WWE, world heavyweight, intercontinental, United States and tag team champion, he also held the Money in the Bank, won the 2012 Royal Rumble match and was the 2010 King of the Ring.
He is one of the few who can claim to have done it all in WWE, yet he is not treated as such. At a time when SmackDown is desperately in need of star power, the company has one staring it in the face but appears more interested in telling the latest Hardy redemption story rather than building a heel it could then program against someone like Braun Strowman or familiar foe Daniel Bryan.
The utilization of Sheamus, and what appears to be coming up for him, is the definition of WWE Creative cutting off its nose to spite its face.
Discounting Triple H and Shawn Michaels in the night's half-assed closing segment, the biggest star to appear on Friday's show was former WWE champion Kofi Kingston in the night's opening segment, which was dedicated to tag teams.
While he was utilized to help get heat on The Forgotten Sons in their quest for tag team success, that he was the one wrestler fans of the product could point to as a legitimate star within the last year is a major problem for the blue brand.
Friday's show, broadcasting live, was without universal champion Braun Strowman or No. 1 contender Bray Wyatt. Daniel Bryan was relegated to cheerleader for Drew Gulak. Roman Reigns continues to be conspicuous in his absence as he rightfully remains home because of concerns related to his compromised immune system and the ongoing pandemic.
To its credit, WWE Creative has attempted to promote the women's division, giving the crop of talent on Friday nights considerable television time and exposure. Unfortunately, none of those women have been able to break out.
The perception that SmackDown is the lesser of the two main-roster properties is only enhanced by the product WWE is putting out there every week. Until that changes, television ratings will continue to drop while apathy for the SmackDown brand as a whole intensifies, no matter how much work the men and women who call it home put in.
