Hey guys! Last week on SmackDown, Paige got the better of Becky Lynch and on RAW, Charlotte defeated her friend using questionable tactics to say the least. How will the Lass-Kicker rebound from these losses as we continue the road to TLC?
Our first Diva sighting is of Summer Rae accompanying her man Tyler Breeze to a victory over Neville:
Up next, Jojo is interviewing Becky Lynch backstage, asking her how is the relationship between the two Divas after Charlotte’s controversial win on Raw:
Becky responds by stating that they are still friends, and friends may not see eye to eye at times but it is all water under the bridge and it is time to move on. Jojo turns up the heat by mentioning Paige’s betrayal on her Team PCB mates. Lynch responds by saying that what Paige did affected the both of them and she doesn’t see Charlotte heading down that same road. There are some laughs in the background and we are now joined by Alicia Fox and Brie Bella.
Brie asks Foxy if gullible is still a word in the dictionary. Foxy replies that it has been replaced with Becky. Annoyed with the shade, Becky ask Brie why she is not preparing to lose to her later tonight. Brie reminds Becky of the “Fool Me Once” proverb and says that Becky will frown in shame tonight. Foxy says that maybe the problem is not Charlotte or Paige, maybe it is Becky herself. Charlotte interrupts saying that maybe the problem is that there is a new generation of Divas ready to take them down. Charlotte zings Brie by mentioning that she was the one who defeated her sister for the Divas Championship. Brie fires back saying it is lonely at the top, and once Becky leaves her she will come crashing right back to Earth. Team Bella leaves and Charlotte tells Becky to ignore the comments of Team Bella and affirms that she will always be in her corner.
After the commercial break, it’s match time and Team Bella is already in the ring. Out comes Becky Lynch and Charlotte, looking happier than ever, the bell rings and this match is underway! Becky goes into an immediate waist lock and whips Brie into the the ropes for an armdrag. Brie cowers to the ropes and Lynch hits a dropkick. Brie hits a hotshot and then smashes Becky’s head into the turnbuckle. She follows up with a bulldog and gains a near fall.
We get a shot of Team B.A.D. playing with a pinata backstage and back in the ring, Brie hits her Daniel Bryan tribute kicks to the chest followed by a low dropkick. She places Becky on the bottom rope and hits the Brie Mode knee to the head. She gains another nearfall and applies a chin lock. Becky powers out and hits a series of strikes followed by an Exploder Suplex and she gains another nearfall. Becky goes for the DisArmHer but Brie grabs the ropes but Becky locks in the submission in the center of the ring when Charlotte charges in the ring to attack Brie. The bell rings and Brie wins by disqualification. Post-match, Becky and Charlotte are having a serious argument in the center of the ring.
On SmackDown Fallout, Becky talks about the confusing turn of events:
She says she’s “perplexed” about Charlotte’s actions and doesn’t know who’s gotten into her head. While she still believes that Charlotte has her back, Becky speculates that she should probably stay home next time she wants to help her out.
Our next helping of Divas is a backstage segment featuring Renee Young interviewing the weirdest couple in WWE history, Lana and Rusev:
Renee shows us the clip from RAW where Lana was injured in Rusev’s match. Lana calls Rusev a barbarian and says he intentionally causes harm to her. She adds that Ryback has no clue what to do with beautiful woman like herself but her fiance Rusev does. Rusev adds in that there will be other matches, but he will never have another Lana. He calls Ryback a coward and promises the next time he sees Ryback, he will crush him.
Thoughts: Okay, I believe the signs of a good television program makes you ask more questions after viewing. But not in a production aspect but from a purely storyline point of view. In this case, I have NO idea why after viewing RAW and SmackDown, it seems like the new direction is to have Charlotte lean towards tweener status or a heel turn. I think the bookers here want us to ask “Why, Charlotte why?” but in reality, I’m asking myself “Does this make any sense?” After all, why would Charlotte screw Becky over? Becky has had Charlotte’s back throughout the entirety of their issue with Paige. But then again, is this all apart of Paige’s plan? Could Paige play the role of the master manipulator and know Charlotte is playing into her hand or is this the workings to split Becky and Charlotte up? I’m here left with questions.
Another question (rhetorical), HOW GOOD DID JOJO LOOK THIS WEEK? I loved the braids! Slay queen!
Okay, back to business, my other question is what was the point of having Team B.A.D. playing with a pinata backstage? I came across as the intention of saying “Look don’t forget about these three!” I was enjoying their mini-feud with Natalya but it seems like this is yet again another example of the problem booking stables and multiple people at once: someone is eventually gonna get left out. I would not mind having a different feud per program. It seems like every few months they dabble with the idea and then ultimately drop it.
Regarding Lana and Rusev, I am baffled by this direction. Lana and Rusev were the mean, calculated, strong presences and have become comedic fodder. They serve no purpose and it is quite sad to see the state of these two powerhouses from just a year ago. But hopefully, WWE ends this damage control by overdoing this romance angle and actually revert back to the ways of old. And lastly, Lana needs to wear a bun at all times, whatever she called that hairstyle was a major faux pas.
All in all, the landscape of the Divas on SmackDown is quite simply a mess. These characters seem lost with no direction and hopefully after these feuds actually end, we get to see the material we’ve been dreaming of since July. And now I turn the conversation to you, was this week’s SmackDown a SLAY or a NAY? What would you have done? Let me know in the comments and as always, Thank you for reading!
