The announcement that Triple H was going to make a major announcement on “SmackDown” tonight held water from the start if only because it doesn’t happen very often anymore, and as a result I think the masses were hoping for more than appointing a pair of authority figures in Adam Pearce to “Raw” and Nick Aldis to “SmackDown” as each brand’s respective general manager.

To be fair, I thought that the fact that Pearce was already in the ring as Mr. Helmsley came in to announce that he was being promoted thanks to all his hard work over the course of the last several years was setting Aldis up to be a big new debut. And aside from that, good on Pearce for the recognition, because I bet this was far more than an on-screen thing. He took the reins of a difficult gig and crushed it on both shows for longer than most have.

The problem, for me, lies with the less-than debut for Aldis, who has been working part-time as a producer with WWE for a while now, but deserved some sort of buildup for this not-so-shocking debut. Aldis’ resume is known the (wrestling nerd) world over, but maybe not for the average WWE fan. In fact, my 15-year-old kid had a few questions for me, and I think, sometimes, that’s the only measuring stick we really need. “Why should I care about this guy when he just showed up out of nowhere, no music, no HHH rundown of his career accomplishments or pedigree, nothing,” would be a fair thought for any and all.

Later, Aldis’ presence was felt again as he interfered with a Cody Rhodes/Roman Reigns staredown, so obviously, he’s gonna have some pull on as a week-to-week character. But we could have done a lot better here. His history with Cody, for one? We can’t even dance around that? His marriage to Mickie James? Nary a mention? (It’s not like that’s off limits these days!) Nothing else? Come on!

Nick Aldis is a pro’s pro and I bet he takes this job and runs with it. Hell, I bet he ends up competing in a WWE ring at some point. But the beginning could have been so much more. Give the guy some music at least, for the love of … you know, music.