Just two days removed from the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, SmackDown Live is ready to host a new champion. Bayley won both the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match and cashed in on Charlotte Flair to become the new SmackDown Women’s Champion. Becky Lynch takes advantage of the wild card rule and joins Bayley in tag team action. They face Charlotte Flair and RAW’s Lacey Evans.
Unlike on a three-hour episode of RAW, SmackDown was able to highlight two women’s matches. Carmella and Mandy Rose continue their fallout from the pay-per-view by facing each other in a one-on-one match. The match didn’t end in a way either competitor expected.
Let’s get right into who made the list (“you just made the list”) of winners and losers on this week’s show.
Let’s first start with who didn’t fare too well, the losers:
Women’s tag team division
WWE is doing a poor job at building a women’s tag team division. In a matter of three months, the tag team division has drastically diminished. With the only official tag teams on the main roster being on SmackDown, it is up to the blue brand to carry that weight.
Being champions, The IIconics should be a focal point on SmackDown. Instead, they were on the losing end of their match on RAW. With the Kabuki Warriors and Fire & Desire being the only competition at this time, let’s highlight them.
There are other women such as Liv Morgan and Mickie James who haven’t been seen since switching brands during the Superstar Shake-Up. The Riott Squad were disbanded during the shake-up essentially for all three women to be missing in action.
Let’s do a better job at building this division.
Sonya Deville
Sonya Deville has been used more lately as a push for Mandy Rose rather than an advocate for herself. Although it isn’t a bad thing to put over your tag team partner it can come with a price.
Deville should be working with Rose towards the tag team titles. They came just mere moments away from being the inaugural champions at the Elimination pay-per-view and Deville along with Rose need to get that opportunity again.
If they want to continue Mandy Rose’s feud with Carmella, they can at least capitalize on the dissension between Deville and Zelina Vega from the Money in the Bank Kickoff show. Maybe develop a Carmella and Vega tag team? This would help with the lack of tag teams.
Now let’s discuss those who ended up on the more favorable side of things:
Bayley
The new SmackDown Women’s Champion continued her momentum from Money in the Bank with another big victory over Charlotte Flair. During her tag team match with Becky Lynch against Flair and Lacey Evans, Bayley was able to counter the figure four leg lock and pin the nine-time champ.
Bayley is coming out strong as a new champion. Picking up a win in this match shows the path to hopefully a long title run for the hugger. Of course, that remains to be seen until she starts defending the title. Lately, short title reigns have been a trend throughout the landscape of WWE.
Bottom line is currently Bayley is the one to beat. They could have given the pin to Becky Lynch in this match and they didn’t.
Carmella
Carmella was a huge winner on this week’s SmackDown. Her interaction with R-Truth and the 24/7 Championship not only helped out her character but assisted with the relevance of the new title itself. Her chemistry with Truth has been a delight to watch including the makeover disguise she gave him. Who didn’t laugh seeing him avoid pinfalls in a wig?
She pulled double duty by not only having a match but being present throughout the whole show. Hopefully, she will continue her partnership with Truth along with her feud with Mandy Rose. Maybe if her time with Truth does finally come to an end she could become the first woman to win the 24/7 title?
What did you think of this week’s SmackDown? Who were your winners and losers? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!!
Check back in with Diva Dirt for more winners and losers in the future.
