This week's SmackDown ended with The Bloodline falling apart after Solo Sikoa turned on The Usos and pledged his allegiance to Roman Reigns.
All eyes were on the blue brand following Night of Champions, where Jimmy Uso hit Roman Reigns with two superkicks during the latter's tag team titles match. The closing moments of SmackDown were full of swerves as it initially felt like Reigns was ready to forgive Jimmy.
Solo Sikoa also looked like he would stand by his brothers before laying out Jimmy Uso with a nasty Samoan Spike. The angle concluded with Roman Reigns walking to the back, claiming that Jey Uso would "fall in line" just like he always did.
Dutch Mantell was impressed by what he saw and lauded Triple H's team for being extremely patient with The Bloodline saga. WWE could have made a mistake and rushed the whole narrative, but Mantell felt that the company had done the right thing by playing it slow in recent weeks.
"Very, very good segment," admitted Dutch Mantell on the latest Smack Talk episode. "Paul Heyman had very little to say because there was nothing for him to say anyway. Had he said anything, it would not have helped it. But I applaud WWE on taking the slow, by-the-numbers, adding just a little bit of the story, and [doing] a good job. Great job!" [From 9:19 to 9:50]
Check out the entire video below:
Dutch Mantell explains how The Bloodline story has the hallmark of a great angle
Dutch Mantell isn't alone in his praise for WWE following SmackDown, as most fans also enjoyed seeing everything unfold on TV this week.
Viewers were seemingly at the edge of their seats as it was genuinely difficult to predict which way the segment featuring The Bloodline would have gone. From Solo Sikoa teasing a betrayal to Roman Reigns thinking about burying the hatchet with The Usos, it was an emotional roller coaster, to say the least.
Dutch Mantell said the best wrestling angles play with the audience's minds, which is something WWE has succeeded in doing with The Bloodline. He added that WWE presented an incredibly well-produced segment that made every character shine:
"See, when you do segments like this, you're brain is running; it's like, 'Oh, what's this? What's coming?' That's a great angle. When you have the fans doing the thinking for the bookers or the writers, at that point, the writers, I'm sure they are smart, but they are watching everything they say, every action from the crowd, if they get them up, set them down, they take all that, because that's for their future. This segment here was very, very well-done, well-produced, and effective, and they are still on their path. They didn't lose their step." [From 16:27 to 17:20]
Do you agree with Dutch Mantell's take on WWE's latest offering featuring The Bloodline? Let us know in the comments section below.