After the prolonged heartache that was Monday Night Raw, it was nice to return to emotional stability on SmackDown Live last night.
It was like a plain bagel after a heavy night: simple, comforting, yet largely forgettable. And that’s not a bad thing, as this relatively mundane episode of SmackDown Live was zipping along rather smoothly for a while. That was, at least, until they slipped a massive raisin into this wrestling delicacy.
What was the real-world embodiment of this metaphorical devil fruit? The current state of WWE‘s women’s division! What on earth is going on with it?
We’re just a few days out from Evolution, the all-women’s pay-per-view touted as being the epitome of women’s empowerment in WWE. A hard-earned reward for their diligence, passion and skill. And yet, it’s arguable that the company’s women’s division has never looked more directionless.
Don’t get me wrong, I certainly don’t mean that from a talent perspective. In fact, in terms of overall in-ring ability, I think we could agree that WWE has never had such a wealth of terrific women wrestlers at its disposal. It’s the way in which they’re used that’s so abysmal.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpM3ov_D9EI/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
While questions could legitimately be asked about the build to the tag match featuring Trish & Lita vs Mickie James and a hopefully healthy Alexa Bliss, as well as the suddenly thrown together Riott Squad contest against Banks, Bayley and Natalya, the most egregious example of poor booking has to be the Battle Royal.
Twenty-one competitors have so far been announced for the match, over the course of a two week build – most of which has been dedicated to having various menageries of women awkwardly toss one another over the top rope. No explanation, no real context. Just silly, forgettable nonsense.
The fact that this is being treated as such a throw-away match is especially bizarre when one considers that of the fifteen current main roster stars scheduled to compete in the Battle Royal, six are former WWE or NXT Women’s Champions. SIX! Could we really not find room for Ember Moon, Asuka or Naomi to have a featured match in a reported three-hour show?
https://twitter.com/Zelina_VegaWWE/status/1054915075503546369
And what of the Mae Young Classic finals or the two NXT Women’s titles on the line? I don’t recall any of those matches even being mentioned during Raw or SmackDown this week, which is frankly incomprehensible. How are these women expected to get over with audiences if you can’t ever bother to give them any main roster TV exposure?
There’s no excuse for these lapses. Evolution was announced on July 23, giving WWE just over three months to build a pay-per-view correctly presented as a landmark accomplishment. Three months in which to prominently feature women, create rivalries and generate excitement.
Instead we get ‘Shuffles McGee’ Shane McMahon dropping one sentence about the event before quickly moving on to a largely meaningless World Cup tournament.
HERE COMES THE MONEYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!
Welcome to the show, @ShaneMcMahon! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/pyqyEoHahD
— WWE (@WWE) October 24, 2018
And therein perhaps lies the greatest irony. At a time when WWE should be hyper-focused on Evolution and the message behind it, they’ve found themselves distracted by Crown Jewel, the increasingly controversial pay-per-view to which Evolution will tragically forever be tied.
Between World Cup qualifiers, Shield tag matches, Dean Ambrose heel turns and four geriatric legends chatting about which one of them is going to die first, much of the on-screen oxygen has been siphoned away from the all-women’s event.
It’s an unbelievable shame that during a time of women’s evolution, WWE has found itself focusing exclusively on an event in which they are banned from competing.
But what happened on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live? Join our WrestleTalk writers as we quickly recap some of the best and worst moments on the blue brand. Then don’t forget to let us know your rating of the show as well as your thought on this Sunday’s Evolution.
What was your favorite moment from SmackDown Live?
Ashley D’Altilio
Miz TV with Rey Mysterio. After having such a rough night watching Raw, it was great to see Rey Mysterio tonight. He pulled a fun, typical face/heel promo with The Miz, who continues to don his obnoxious round sunglasses.
I can see these two having a longer feud following their match at the ‘pay-per-view that must not be named’ (Crown Jewel). Mysterio came back as if he never left, and their match only showed how talented they both are in the ring.
Sean Patrick Eckmann
Seeing Rey Mysterio’s amazing acrobatics is a treat, and he and Miz were able to put on the match of the night. Honestly, this week’s SmackDown was a bit dull to me (and I sensed some of the same from the crowd), but Rey, even aged, breathed more life into it than at any other point.
Steven Lugo
Becky Lynch crashes the Performance Center. I love the way this segment was set up. As it was not in front of the live crowd, I did not expect what transpired, but alas I was taken by surprise, and grinning wildly by the end of it.
When Charlotte Flair entered WWE‘s Performance Center, she proceeded to give NXT hopefuls an inspired, if formulaic, speech before the company’s first all-women’s PPV. The ‘Queen’ took questions, and explained all about working at the highest levels on the main roster. She told them that she was excited for WWE Evolution, that you should never look down on your peers, and promised herself she wasn’t going to cry.
Then, entering the shot like a wild fire on the periphery was the champ, Becky Lynch. She injected some reality into Charlotte’s incomplete fairy tale. Friendships don’t always last, sometimes you need to self-advocate, and as Becky told Charlotte’s audience, it can be a fatal mistake to not strike your opponent first. It was great, felt real, and the pull-apart brawl that ensued was downright awesome!
Nicholas Holicki
For once I struggled to identify a segment that I really enjoyed. There was a lot of good: Miz TV, the ensuing match against Mysterio, and Becky Lynch spring to mind. But they’re always good and I don’t think this week was any different.
So, in the spirit of Evolution, I’m instead going to give my vote to two people who I believe often get overlooked. The IIconics.
Now I don’t know if it’s because I watched their appearance on UpUpDownDown shortly before SmackDown or because they were the only glimmer of hope in an otherwise barren wasteland of a segment, but I really enjoy these two.
They’re just the right level of obnoxious to be entertaining, generally feel organic and unscripted, and they always appear to be enjoying their work. As comedy heels, I think their work too often goes unappreciated.
What was the worst part of last night’s episode?
Ashley D’Altilio
The women’s Evolution promo. I will continue to give these women’s segments the worst of the night until WWE actually does something relevant and meaningful with them. Having a couple women (the IIconics and Carmella) come out and go through their silly gimmicks does not do Evolution any justice. Promoting these women as jokes and nothing more than gimmicks will never bring them to the level at which they should be. WWE‘s women deserve so, so much better than this.
Sean Patrick Eckmann
You call that a go-home show? There wasn’t a single women’s wrestling match on the last show before Evolution. Becky and Charlotte’s pre-taped brawl was good, but the live show only had a mock Battle Royal to build to the show. That’s this Sunday!
Did we really need to revive a Hardy vs. Orton feud that should have ended at Hell in a Cell? Instead we had every woman crammed into a single spot. Coincidentally, the same problem that’s fundamental to the battle royal in the first place.
Steven Lugo
Rusev squashes Aiden English. What was the point of this feud again? To get Aiden over? To get fans gossiping about Lana? To stall chants of “Rusev Day”? I don’t know why you’d break up such a hot act if this was the end that was envisioned.
Aiden has apparently lost the feud after a brief TV match. It didn’t really do anything for Rusev, who had much more momentum behind him a few months ago when Aiden was by his side.
Where can Aiden go from here? I don’t know why so much time was invested in this. Maybe there’s more to come, but at this point I’m just not as interested. In my eyes, Rusev, Aiden, and Lana should still be massively over babyfaces.
Nicholas Holicki
I refuse to nominate that mess of a women’s Battle Royal segment, because frankly I’ve watched it twice and still neither understand nor care what it was meant to be.
No, I’m going with something that has the potential to be damaging in the long run. And that is Charlotte’s character at the moment. She’s an overly-sensitive, emotional, whiny wreck, and I’m just not sure how we’re meant to get behind that.
WWE have somehow made the conscious decision to reduce one of the best wrestlers in the world to a stereotypical, hapless ‘damsel in distress’ in this championship feud – which is stunning for a company that makes such a big show of positioning itself as a champion of female empowerment.
It unquestionably harms Charlotte, but it probably also impairs Becky Lynch. A good heel is made better by a sympathetic face, after all. And we’re missing one element.
How would you rate the show overall? (From best to worst: SmackDamn, SmackTastic, Smack Bang in the Middle, Ellsworthy and A Smack in the Face)
Ashley D’Altilio
A low Smack Bang in the Middle. This was a go-home show for WWE‘s first-ever all women’s pay-per-view and they did no good for their women. The segment with Charlotte and Becky was fantastic, as was the match between Mysterio and the Miz. Rusev’s match was entertaining as well, but nothing to rave about.
Overall, this was just below average for me. Compared to last night’s Raw, which was a tear-jerking show, this was disappointing but in a different way.
Sean Patrick Eckmann
This would have been a slightly below average episode of SmackDown, especially considering how strong the show has been lately. But as a go-home show for Evolution, this was just not good at all.
Crown Jewel (which will, of course, have no women) got more time than the show that is THIS. FREAKING. SUNDAY. I’m in a much better mood after having watched the Mixed Match Challenge (which is entirely underrated, by the way) but I just know that WWE can do better than this in promoting such a monumental show. Rating: A Very Low Ellsworthy.
Steven Lugo
Smack Bang in the Middle. Understandably, there was something of a comedown from Raw. Due to the highly emotional nature of Monday’s show, and Roman’s honest, vulnerable address, even the most epic SmackDown would have a tough time feeling epic.
For my money, there was still great stuff. Becky crashing the PC was one, and Mysterio’s match with Miz was another. Yet, too much just seemed thoughtless, like Big Show and the Bar basically squashing New Day, and the entire women’s division being hurried along and thrown into that tired trope of a mock battle royal before an actual battle royal. No more! Please!
Nicholas Holicki
It felt like SmackDown was flatlining this week. With no real peaks to speak of, nor any actively harmful segments (yet!), this all just felt very run-of-the-mill. For that reason, this week’s show was Smack Bang in the Middle.
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