WWE SmackDown 12/08/2023: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that sends CM Punk out in the middle of the show instead of the end so he has plenty of time to vamp! And oh boy, do we have thoughts about his vamping. Plenty of other things happened on Friday's show, but Punk will once again be dominating the headlines going into the weekend, and while we did manage to muster up some takes about other things as well, we definitely didn't get to everything. If you're looking for something more comprehensive (and less opinionated) we highly recommend our live coverage/results page.

If, on the other hand, you're curious as to what WINC's writing and editorial staff thought of this week's installment of blue brand programming, this is the place to be. Did we enjoy the story development that took place in the women's division, or did we perhaps prefer the action in the tournament to crown a new No. 1 contender for the United States Championship? And most importantly, has Randy Orton performed anywhere near enough RKOs since his return at Surivor Series? (Spoiler: No, no he has not.) Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 12/8/23 episode of "WWE SmackDown."

There's been more than the usual amount of talk about fines in wrestling this week, but as far as I'm concerned the only fine that matters is the one Randy Orton paid to Nick Aldis on "SmackDown" this week in recompense for delivering an RKO to Aldis at the end of last week's episode. After a brief conversation in which Orton claimed that he only learned who LA Knight was that day (which, please let that be actually true), Aldis glanced at Orton's check and noticed that "The Viper" had paid twice the price of the fine.

"Oh," Orton replied before leaving the room, "that's for next time."

I've always been a Randy Orton guy, but this version of Orton might be might favorite one yet. Yes please, WWE, give me an aging, self-aware Randy who is well aware that he's definitely going to RKO Aldis again at some point, so why not pay in advance? I love his current vibe being this kind of lovable psychopath who we all know is a psychopath, and he's definitely not going to stop being a psychopath, but he is going to make a face like "Well, what are you gonna do, I'm wacky! Can't help but murder people sometimes! What a mischievous scamp!"

It's so great. Randy Orton forever.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

Karrion Kross has been lukewarm ever since his return in the Triple H era of WWE, and it's kind of disappointing. Kross returned to television Friday night in a WWE United States Championship tournamentmatch against Bobby Lashley. While a victory for Lashley — an Army veteran — made sense for the Tribute to the Troops crowd, that doesn't excuse Kross' lackluster performance.

The finish left much to be desired. Lashley was in the corner, revving up for a spear, when Kross started to remove his elbow pad. An elbow attack — made more painful by the skin-to-skin contact — would have been the next logical step. Instead, Lashley just speared Kross and cleanly pinned him for the win. It was an anticlimactic end to a mediocre fight, but there was some hope that maybe there would be a brawl after the match, or something — anything to explain why Kross might have removed his elbow pad.

There was no brawl. Kross removed his elbow pad for no discernible reason.

This match was mediocre, but the real tragedy here is Kross' booking. His appearances on TV have been few and far between, and have been mostly underwhelming. The missing elbow pad, and the subsequent confusion at its disuse, is symbolic of Kross' current run. He's missing whatever he had during his "NXT" Champion days, and nobody seems to know how to resolve the problem.

Written by Angeline Phu

CM Punk read everyone's tweets, and he listened.

After a widely-criticised return promo on "WWE Raw" almost two weeks ago, the former multi-time world champion delivered a far more pointed speech on Friday night's edition of "SmackDown," setting up a plethora of future feuds in the process (as well as taking a cheeky dig at his former employer). The 45-year-old came out to a massive ovation in Providence before claiming that his time wouldn't be cut this time around as he addressed the WWE audience, referencing his underwhelming six-minute monologue on "Raw". After quoting his "old friend" Cody Rhodes and asking what the fans wanted to talk about, Punk turned his attention directly to Roman Reigns, reminding the part-time champion of his previous allegiance with Paul Heyman, dropping the first of many hints about his ambitions and mindset.

Punk wouldn't stop there however, dropping nods to the likes of Solo Sikoa and Randy Orton, before his assessment of Kevin Owens led to a clear reference to his messy AEW departure, which saw him fired over a backstage fight with Jack Perry.

"I don't know how who would feel comfortable working with someone who just punches people in the face backstage," Punk said jokingly. "It's 2023, you can't be doing stuff like that. It's insane"

But the one person that everybody expected Punk to mention — Seth Rollins — was the one that he refused to address by name, instead taking aim at his "whiny voice" and revealing his desire to main event WrestleMania, teasing a potential Royal Rumble entry next month. Backstage, the Chicago native was spotted in a brief, frosty interaction with Owens before shaking hands with Rhodes inside the office of general manager Nick Aldis and wishing the duo of Randy Orton and LA Knight good luck for their tussle with The Bloodline.

While the first promo was more of a vague mission statement where Punk thanked the fans for welcoming him back with open arms, this effort was a clear reminder of what "The Second City Saint" is capable of on the microphone. It was allowed far more time to breathe and showed the electricity in the air when Punk mentions or interacts with another performer, as opposed to talking in generalities. Punk's promo and backstage appearances accomplished everything they set out to do and left fans salivating at not only Punk's next move, but the long-term potential for some stellar feuds and matches with some of WWE's elite stars.

This was the Punk that fans fell in love with, and his next appearance on Monday night can't come soon enough if more of the same is in store.

Written by Liam O'Loughlin

With nothing but respect for my colleague, I didn't listen to CM Punk's "SmackDown" promo and come away feeling like he had done anything differently. To me, the "SmackDown" promo felt like the "Raw" promo, and the "Raw" promo felt like the same lifeless babyface whose work bored me to tears in AEW.

I really this isn't necessarily a commonly held opinion, and that's fine. I have a hard time with babyface Punk, especially after the one-two punch of Brawl Out and Brawl In. And if I had a hard time with babyface Punk in AEW, where the extremely online die-hard crowd hung on his every word and roared in delight at his inside jokes, I am officially starting to get worried about babyface Punk in WWE, where you can drop an admittedly great line about punching people in the face backstage and get no reaction whatsoever.

Now, it should be noted that if the show had been in New York or Chicago instead of in Providence, Rhode Island, he probably would have gotten a reaction. But that's kind of the point — there's a reason AEW tends to stick to the markets they do, because they cater to a narrower fan base. That's not a criticism, that's just a fact. This isn't the WWE Punk left in 2014, either — this WWE audience is more content with the status quo, happy to boo the faces and cheer the heels like they're supposed to. Punk can't build his entire schtick out of cheeky rebellion if his goal is to get the biggest possible reaction. He needs more than that. He needs a character. I would argue that ever since he returned to wrestling in 2021, his character has just been "CM Punk, that wrestler who was popular before." In AEW, that was perfect. I'm not sure it goes as well in WWE.

What I'm saying, as always, is that CM Punk needs to turn heel, and until he does, I have no intention of taking him seriously.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

Friday night, Zelina Vega and Michin appeared alongside Bianca Belair and Shotzi to ward off Damage CTRL — notably, without their respective male faction members — and it was great.

The female manager is a historic character archetype in WWE. From Miss Elizabeth to Vickie Guerrero to Rhea Ripley, women have often been placed as mouthpieces to support their male faction members. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but tonight, Vega and Michin established themselves as more than valets. By standing with Belair and Shotzi, they showed viewers that they have a stake in the women's division.

Introducing new faces to an established feud — especially one as established as Team Bianca vs. Damage CTRL — is great for everybody involved. Vega and Michin each have their own personalities that can add some new perspectives to this well-established storyline. A stable storyline like this one could also provide Vega and Michin with opportunities to develop their characters and evolve beyond their current status as token female members in their corresponding male-majority groups. Their appearance in support of Bianca Belair is an exciting development for the "SmackDown" women's division, and one that looks to elevate everybody involved.

To top it all off, Vega and Michin came looking their best — Vega's all-pink look, in particular, was an eye-catcher. The women's division never fails in the fashion department.

Written by Angeline Phu

I am all for a feud between Randy Orton and LA Knight, and I think it would be really interesting to see what kinds of matches and wars of words these two would get into. WWE had the perfect opportunity to kickstart that feud tonight on "SmackDown," but for some reason, they decided not to take it.

In the closing moments of their tag team match against Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso, Knight leveled Sikoa and was about to hit Blunt Force Trauma on Jimmy. However, he wasn't the legal man for his team, and Orton turned Jimmy around into an RKO from him to score the three count. After the match, Knight and Orton exchanged a look of frustration for getting into each other's way. The story was right in front of them: Two men out for revenge on the group that did them wrong and will stop at nothing to get their hands on them, but also dislike one another. It was a great chance for one to hit the other with their finisher, but instead, they just decided to shake hands and pose.

At the end of the main event and the end of the show, I thought this was a major let down. While I'm sure that the two will be put into a No.1 Contender's Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match (or something like that) in no time, especially with the return of Roman Reigns next week, the company could've used this opportunity to give each man a little extra motivation.

Written by Olivia Quinlan