First, Natalya vs. Nikki Bella ended in a double countout. This was the longest of the feuds going on for the Smackdown women and it just needed to end. All they have been doing for a lot of these past weeks is talking and brawling. They're brawling in the ring, outside the ring, outside the building, backstage, and I don't know where else. And there is really nowhere else for the promos to go. This isn't a great feud. It is being booked this way because of the poor depth.
Nikki Bella should have just won and moved on. Even if she had won, these two women might have still interacted after Elimination Chamber, but the feud with have reached its climax and they could really start moving on to something new. As it stands, this feud doesn't feel like it is over yet.
Becky Lynch defeated Mickie James. Mickie James should have won that match. She just looks terrible. She has only been back a few weeks, so it won't be hard to look back at what she has done in terms of momentum. She came back by screwing Becky Lynch. The week after that, she had that promo segment, which ended with Mickie and Alexa Bliss once again laying out Becky. Since then, it has been all downhill. She lost at the Royal Rumble. She lost on the Smackdown after that. The Smackdown after that was the contract segment, which ended with the faces standing tall. She had absolutely no momentum heading into Elimination Chamber. And she lost. That is terrible booking.
And this booking does not help Becky Lynch as much as it could. Go back to when Mickie James returned to TNA in 2010. I don't think TNA handled her right, but what they did with her was done better than what the WWE just did with Becky Lynch. Mickie James had a feud with Tara, the sidekick of Madison Rayne, the TNA KO Champion at the time. The feud lasted months and Tara, the heel, actually got a PPV win over Mickie. It culminated with Mickie James defeating Tara in a steel cage match on Impact, which was one of the best moments of her TNA run. I have compared how the WWE is using Becky Lynch now to how TNA used Mickie James back then before. TNA actually made it look like Mickie James had to overcome something back then. They actually developed the feud. This feud with Becky Lynch and Mickie James is the same kind of thing. Becky Lynch is feuding with the sidekick of the heel Champion that is in her way. But with Mickie James not looking like she had any real momentum at all, Becky Lynch does not look as amazing as she could have with a win over her.
They are just doing a terrible job with Mickie James. I said that the WWE should not bring her back. Okay, they brought her back. I said that the WWE should not make her a heel and have her be La Luchadora. Okay, they made her a heel and had her be La Luchadora. I said the WWE should not have her be this bitter, arrogant character. Okay, they had her be this bitter, arrogant character. And I said that the WWE should have Mickie James win at Elimination Chamber. And they didn't do that. They have just dug a deep hole. Going back to my first point, I did not want them to bring her back because I knew this sour, inefficient environment would not be good for her. And the WWE is proving me right.
The booking in the last few weeks has not helped anyone as much as it could have. Mickie James does not look good. The feud does not look as great as it could have been. And Becky Lynch has not been put over as best as she could have been. Yes, the feud can still go on, but it would just look pointless at this point. Becky Lynch already has her revenge and that's that. I heard some rumors say that the reason Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James might be a short feud is that Nikki Bella and whatever she is involved with is getting a Wrestlemania spot. And yet, Nikki Bella's feud with Natalya was the one that did not get closure at Elimination Chamber. I doubt it will be Nikki vs. Natalya at Wrestlemania. With the WWE running at least 3 women's angles on Smackdown, the Nikki excuse does not have merit. The WWE could have booked Becky/Mickie to end at the first Smackdown PPV after Wrestlemania, while Nikki Bella still has her storyline.
And Naomi defeated Alexa Bliss to win Smackdown's Women's Championship. Once again, I would say this is a feud that didn't help either woman as best as it could have.
Let me start with Alexa Bliss. Everything I just said about Mickie James lacking momentum in the last few weeks applies to her partner in crime, and it might even be worse for Alexa. Alexa was the one being pinned in all those tag matches. She just had no momentum heading into the match. Alexa Bliss is obviously not a great wrestler, but the WWE could have put a lot more work in her to make her look like a great heel. They had just paired her with Mickie James less than a month ago, now the duo looks absolutely pathetic. How is that building a strong heel duo, which can then really put over some faces down the road?
As for Naomi winning the title, I felt that Naomi should one day get a good push. Now is just not when I would have done it. She just came back from her second injury in a year that required her to miss time. The WWE should wait and see if she can stay healthy for a few months. Moreover, the build to that title win should be better. Instead, she comes back on Smackdown, pins Alexa Bliss at the Royal Rumble, pins Alexa Bliss on Smackdown, wins a brawl a week after that, and then wins the title. I've talked about women losing momentum before, but it seems the WWE just rushed Naomi to look credible. She never looked weak. It was just a 3-week steamroll. Yes, there are a lot of Naomi fans out there that are happy, but you always have to think about that wider audience. The WWE didn't really have any time to gauge how her push was really going. They just gave her the title. I don't care if she is from Florida and Wrestlemania is in Florida this year, this whole situation could have been handled better.
All of the Smackdown Women's Champions so far have been mediocre. I am not talking about talent. I am talking about how they have been built and the quality of their title reigns. Becky Lynch had no proper build whatsoever prior to winning the title. Her reign lasted a few months, featuring her missing out on a title defense due to a medical issue. Many did not think she would lose the title to Alexa Bliss. That happened. Alexa Bliss had just been on the main roster a few months and never really had any other storyline prior to that feud with Becky Lynch. And she's also not a great wrestler. Just when it looked like her title run might lead to her being featured as a great heel character, Naomi returns from her injury. And I just talked about the rushed job she got. The WWE needs to start developing these women better prior to their title wins and let them have title reigns that are better than this. They are not developing any of these women properly. It is as terrible as the cruiserweight division.
Smackdown's entire women's division just looks weak. No one really stands out that much. A lot of people like to talk about Nikki Bella having backstage influence, but she has not won the title yet on Smackdown and can't even get a decisive win against Natalya at Elimination Chamber. Natalya is getting a storyline, but she never goes far and has not held a title in about 7 years. Becky Lynch, the inaugural Smackdown Women's Champion, had no proper hype prior to winning it and the title reign was not that amazing. Mickie James, a legitimate A+ player a decade ago, in terms of how well she was able to connect with the fans from just being pushed as a credible jobber, is as big a loser in the last few weeks as my Brooklyn Nets. Alexa Bliss looked like she could be a great heel character, but she immediately dropped the title last Sunday. Naomi just got a rushed push, and there is nothing to suggest that this will be a long-term thing for her. Meanwhile, when you look at Raw, Charlotte is a long-term thing. Even Sasha Banks has managed to look somewhat more relevant than the Smackdown women. Even when she loses, there is a story there about her being a fighter. There is her potential heel turn. When these Smackdown women lose, for the most part, it is just a loss. There might be all these storyline floating around, but the actual women don't look strong over time. It is just a juggling act of momentum. Oh, and Carmella has Ellsworth. That is all that needs to be said.
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