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In #12Days we shall see the second SmackDown Live exclusive version of Backlash… And things are heating up in the women’s division! With a match scheduled to settle some differences, the six women (and James Ellsworth) are ready for battle, so let’s see what went down tonight!
I had the pleasure of seeing this show live tonight as the lovely ladies of SmackDown came to London – and what a night it was!
Three out of four members of the Welcoming Committee, Carmella, Tamina and Ellsworth, come out to introduce the Queen of Black Harts Natalya to ringside!
After Neidhart joins us, the SmackDown Women’s champion Naomi comes out to introduce her friend Becky Lynch! Once the Lass Kicker enters the arena, the former RAW Women’s champion Charlotte Flair enters, claiming that she didn’t need anyone to introduce her so she did so herself. It’s getting feisty here.
The match between Natalya and Becky gets underway and it’s a good one. Though cut short at five-ish minutes, both women get some decent offense in and it’s a pretty fair bout. Towards the closing moments of the match, Becky tries to climb the top rope, but is distracted as Tamina attempts to take her down. Naomi however, manages to stop Snuka from doing so by pushing her to the ground. As a way of calming the situation, Charlotte physically pulls Naomi back. But as she is distracted by the outside antics, Becky is slammed to the ground and pinned by Natalya.
Once the ladies are backstage, Lynch spots Naomi and Charlotte arguing about the way that Flair grabbed the champ during the match. Becky reminds them that they need to stay as a unit if they’re ever going to take down Natalya and co. Lynch then informs the duo that they will have a Six-Woman Tag match at Backlash, in which Flair, Lynch and Naomi will take on Snuka, Neidhart and Carmella.
Another promotional video package for Lana is shown during the night. Is the Ravishing Russian going to be our silver li-
Never mind.
Thoughts: So, as fun as this was to watch live, it doesn’t do a lot for me story wise.
This is the exact match that I didn’t want to happen as it is always the go-to story for anything SmackDown women related. To be fair, out of every Six-Woman Tag that SmackDown has produced, this is the one with the most story. However, it’s hard for me to care for it. The crowd will definitely not be into it as any match with all of the women has proven to be a forgetful mid-card match as of late. And the fact that it’s something we’ve seen way too many times before, I doubt it’ll exactly steal the show.
The SmackDown women can easily have great matches at the pay-per-views, but if this consistent need to put them in Six-Woman Tag contests continues, fans will lose interest very quickly.
There is some optimism though, as a heel Becky is on the horizon. Lynch is constantly losing via distraction, and it isn’t exactly putting gold around her waist. So with the fact that her team may lose next week, her frustrations may come out on them, giving her the heel push she needs.
Becky’s character has really taken a bit of a dive lately. She’s still pulling out the same babyface move set and character that’s kind of reached its endpoint, so if she’s given the opportunity to freshen things up, then maybe the rest of the division will feel that impact.
Right now the ladies are in a bit of a standstill. They need to rebuild the division that they lost with the departures of Alexa Bliss, Mickie James and Nikki Bella, but it’s taking a little while for that to happen. We need to see more than just the Welcoming Committee coming out on top, and we need to see more than just five minutes of action too. These ladies have what it takes – as the previous era of the division has proven – so give them that opportunity!
What do you think of this week’s action? What are you anticipating in the pay-per-view match? Let us know your views in the comments below!
