Previewing The Extreme Rules 2017 Undercard Matches

This will be the third try for Austin Aries against Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship. There are some feuds where a great chase to the title would be nice. I felt AJ Styles should have had a chase to his first WWE Championship. TNA had Mickie James take three tries to finally win her first KO title, and her hair was on the line in that match. They raised the bar and made it interesting there, although I wouldn't have waited so long in that situation. Austin Aries is not someone I feel should be chasing after the title like he has. The WWE has shot the Cruiserweight title all over the place since last year. Having Neville hold it for so long is an improvement, but he should be feuding with fresh people, if Austin Aries is not meant to get the title right now.

Who wins this submissions match? I have seen some fans scratching their heads at the cruiserweights doing submissions. Even before this match, a lot of them were busting out submissions. That is not what cruiserweights are known for. High-flying moves are what they are known for. If they are going to wrestle like a lot of other guys on the regular roster, there is nothing special about them. I hear everyone talking about 205 Live not doing well and the cruiserweights frequently getting poor reactions. If they are just normal guys that have not been properly introduced to the main audience, they are going to get poor reactions. I digress. I'll say Austin Aries finally wins the title.

The tag team titles will be defended in a match that is a little more extreme. The Hardys vs. Sheamus & Cesaro inside a steel cage. How have The Hardys been doing? Like a lot of things, they are losing some of their luster. They pretty much need the "Broken" gimmick to appease certain fans. I see fans pointing out Matt Hardy just does not look good in the ring. To them, the "Broken" gimmick at least gives an excuse for his sloppiness that some fans are critical of.

I doubt the title reign ends here for The Hardys. Sheamus and Cesaro are a team that can do fine even if they break up. They do not need another run with the tag titles. They are likely just killing time until The Revival is good to go. I will say The Hardys retain.

I had said that some matches on this card are a little lackluster if you are looking forward to "extreme" matches. For the Intercontinental Championship match, if Dean Ambrose is disqualified, he loses the title to Miz. Not too impressive. Moreover, these two were feuding on Smackdown over the title just a few months ago. They come to Raw and are still feuding for the title. Fresh matches would be nice. And it would be nice if actual midcarders might get in the picture.

Who wins? It seems like a situation where it would be easy for Miz to win. A lot of smarks loved him on Smackdown. But he has lost his luster on Raw. Is there a reason to give him back the title, again? I will say Ambrose retains.

Previewing The Extreme Rules 2017 Women's Matches

I am not surprised the WWE would add another women's match for Extreme Rules. And this one is a mix of everything. It's a tag match. It features the women. It features the cruiserweights. Rich Swann and Sasha Banks face Noam Dar and Alicia Fox.

I like that it is a mixed tag match. These things have been rare ever since the women's revolution started. I have seen some fans get upset when the WWE finally had one last year. They felt it was a waste for the women to be teaming with the likes of Roman Reigns or Rusev. Face it, it needs to happen. The WWE can create interesting feuds, storylines, and segments when men and women interact. That is not just a "diva" thing. It can save fans from having to see stale matches. Did anyone want to see Sasha Banks vs. Alicia Fox for the millionth time in the last few weeks?

That is what I like. What don't I like? This feud is obviously just thrown together. Noam Dar wasn't even in the picture when these two women first faced each other to start this feud in England last month. And his involvement since then has not been that huge. It is like the WWE was just throwing this together from week to week. The injury to Emma obviously caused the WWE to shuffle things, so I won't make too much of this.

Who wins? Should be the faces. I see some people expecting the heels to win because Alicia Fox and Noam Dar are an actual pairing. That doesn't matter. Alicia Fox is a jobber. Sasha Banks is obviously not a top star in the women's division, but she's higher up the ladder than Alicia Fox. She should be winning this.

The Women's Championship will be decided in a Kendo Stick on a Pole match. This is actually one of the most "extreme" match types on the card. That should tell you how pathetic this PPV is. If you are a fan of hardcore-type matches, this PPV is mostly disappointing.

Alexa Bliss has looked way too strong in the last few weeks. She has bashed around Bayley with the stick, as well as Mickie James. She had the upperhand in that elaborate segment on Raw last night. Fans were sour overall on the segment, but that is a different story. The overpush of Alexa Bliss is just disgusting. I don't think even Charlotte has looked so strong for consecutive weeks during her centerpiece run on Raw as Alexa Bliss has. You will usually see a heel win the title, but still at least lose some non-title matches, like tag matches, or at least let the face challenger look better than Bayley has.

You can also compare Alexa Bliss to Trish Stratus. Something that Trish Stratus did during her run in the WWE is take hits. She got roughed up by men. That is obviously not going to happen to Alexa Bliss in today's WWE. But Trish was also involved in some hardcore matches where she took some hits. So far, Alexa Bliss has just been dishing it out. She has not tasted the wood. I would expect it to happen at Extreme Rules. That will help fans respect her as more than just a pretty face. I hate that Alexa Bliss is getting this push, especially in an era that is supposed to be more favorable to women's wrestlers, but if they are going to do it, this is just something they have to let happen. If it does not, it will just be even more disgusting how Alexa Bliss is protected.

Throw the rule about the person that has the momentum heading into a PPV losing. Alexa Bliss has the momentum. I fully expect her to retain. She can then feud with Sasha Banks over the title. I cannot imagine any title feuds for Bayley that the WWE would be willing to do with the other heels on Raw. Alicia Fox is a jobber and I am just not feeling Bayley vs. Nia Jax. What I expect this Sunday is for Bayley to get the stick, whack Alexa a few times, and then Alexa capitalizes on some small thing to get the advantage, hit her DDT, and win the match. Some people have brought up the partnership between Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax. The WWE has not followed up with that at all in the last few weeks. They have portrayed Alexa Bliss as a heel more than capable of  taking care of herself. I hate that. If you are great in the ring, then you can take care of yourself. If you are not, then get a sidekick. A woman that is not a great wrestler cleanly beating around women more talented than her can get annoying and it is basically an attempt to manipulate fans into thinking this woman that is not so great really is as great as the better worker. That is straight out of the diva era. And I expect the diva era to continue to make a comeback through Alexa Bliss as her run as centerpiece continues.

The Impact Of Injuries On Extreme Rules

Extreme Rules, a Raw PPV, is coming up this weekend. I will do the normal 3-day preview starting tomorrow. Before that, there is a topic that is definitely having an impact on this PPV. That would be injuries. Since April, there have been a few critical injuries. Not a lot, but ones that have definitely impacted things very much.

Let me start right at the top. Braun Strowman getting injured was huge. This guy has never held a WWE/Universal Championship. He has never held any titles in the WWE. I don't even consider him a long-term A-tier player. And yet, his injury really led to a shake up. He was feuding with Roman Reigns, and looked likely to move on to feud with Brock Lesnar. His likely Ambulance match against Roman Reigns this Sunday would have been one of the extreme matches to look forward to.

With his injury, however, the WWE has gone with a 5-man match to determine a number 1 contender for the Universal Championship. The first criticism for this match is obvious. Doesn't feel extreme enough, does it? That is a little disappointing.

The other issue is that the WWE has to take various feuds and essentially muddy them for the sake of throwing all these guys together. Seth Rollins and Samoa Joe were still feuding. Bray Wyatt looked like he would get a feud with Finn Balor. You now have all that in one match.

The storyline/feud issue is only part of it. This takes a number of matches off the card. This leaves the WWE with more time to kill for the PPV. One thing to do is obviously make some matches longer. I can definitely see the main event lasting at least half an hour. But they still need more matches than they have announced so far.

Will the answer come in the women's division? The key injury here has been Emma. Again, she never held a title in the WWE and is not someone I consider an A-tier player. She likely will get a title run down the road as a credible jobber. Right now, however, if she was healthy, she would be getting her storyline with Dana Brooke. Not a feud that would have led to a great match, but still something with some creative interest, and something that could have taken up some time at the PPV.

With that off the table, has the WWE done a good job creating other women's feuds on Raw to fill that spot? No. Sasha Banks has a "feud" with Alicia Fox where they are really just trading wins. It is not that interesting and some fans are annoyed by it. They want better for Sasha Banks. Mickie James and Nia Jax could have had a legitimate feud going on. A couple weeks ago, there seemed to be a partnership created between Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax. Nia Jax helped to distract Mickie James in a match to allow Alexa to win. Nia then attacked Mickie James after the match. And the WWE has just not followed up with this. Alexa Bliss is back on her own, including her beating Mickie James cleanly this week, then attacking her with a kendo stick. What the WWE has done here has just not helped the partnership potential between Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax and the feud potential between Mickie James and Nia Jax. Needless to say, it has really hurt Mickie James the most. Her last two Raw matches have been losses and her getting beaten up more after the match. And the failure to properly follow up with Nia Jax attacking her just leaves her looking buried.

And yet, I would not be surprised to see another women's match added to the card. Aside from being a non-title match, it will be a match between credible jobbers. Whether it is Sasha Banks vs. Alicia Fox or Nia Jax vs. Mickie James, none of these women are pushed as stars. And that makes whatever the WWE chooses to do just a pure filler match.

That is actually something you never really saw in the diva era. How often did you see two credible jobbers have a feud that led to them facing each other in a PPV non-title match? You can bring up Melina vs. Jillian when both were on Smackdown, but Smackdown didn't have a women's title back then. Everything was non-title. Moreover, Melina and Jillian had gotten some periphery angles on Smackdown. They were not yet getting the filler and jobber pushes that credible jobbers get. We are now at a point where the WWE is willing to put two women against each other that don't have anything going for them besides wrestling credibility, and are getting lackluster, sloppy feuds. Some people might consider women getting this treatment progress. It's filler. Melina vs. Jillian was a more meaningful PPV match back at Judgment Day 2006 than whatever non-title filler match the WWE chooses for the women at Extreme Rules, if they choose anything.

The last injury to bring up is Dash Wilder, a member of The Revival. Once again, someone that had no title success on the main roster. The team hardly got a chance to do much since debuting. And yet, the WWE was obviously interested in pushing them. They would definitely have been getting another PPV match this weekend.

The WWE still has something for The Hardys to do, defending the titles against heel Sheamus and Cesaro. But what about the other teams? The WWE might be able to throw something together. Once again, much like I said with the women's division, whatever the WWE chooses to throw together will be filler. This PPV feels like it will have a lot of filler. Most of the blame cannot go on the WWE. Injuries happen. But they do deserve some of the blame for not building up these other feuds and storylines better.

How Did Nakamura Do?

Outside of all the drama with Jinder Mahal, the big story for Backlash was supposed to be Shinsuke Nakamura making his official in-ring debut on the main roster. He faced Dolph Ziggler. He won. That was to be expected. But there is more to it than that. How did he actually look?

Looking around, I see a lot of fans were disappointed by the performance. I am not going to say I watched the match. I didn't. But I can get the sense of what happened from what I see fans saying. They feel it was a lackluster performance from Nakamura. The issue isn't sloppiness or a huge botch ruining the match. The wrong story was just told in the ring. I often talk about the story in a match. Will it be a squash? Will a particular spot come up? Things like that. I didn't really do that for this match. I guess I expected WWE to handle it properly or smarks to not be too demanding with this.

Specifically, I see fans unhappy because they feel the match was too much about Dolph Ziggler or he looked too good. That's the story of a lot of matches. The person that will end up losing looks good, which is supposed to make the other guy look good for overcoming such a tough opponent. Over the years, however, I have seen fans talk like the person on the winning end sucks or doesn't deserve to win. They talk like the loser is the better wrestler. It is just how the match is booked. And this match made Nakamura look too human for some fans.

Should the WWE have made Nakamura look better? Probably. I would be the first person to say that Dolph Ziggler deserves better and the WWE screwed up with him in the last few months. But he's a jobber. That is what he is right now. And if that is what he is right now, he should not get in the way of someone like Nakamura that just debuted. At this point, who cares if Dolph Ziggler looks good or is made to look strong? If the situation calls for him to get squashed, so be it. Preferably, a more competitive match would have been enough. Ziggler can always get a better push somewhere down the road. That has been his entire career, up and down.

Nakamura is obviously not ruined. It took CM Punk time to break out on the main roster. Same with Daniel Bryan. Nakamura already has a strong smark following, but if he is going to break out like these other guys, the WWE will either have to let him do something huge, like CM Punk's pipebomb, or he will have to come up with something that really energizes the fans, like Daniel Bryan's "Yes!" and "No!" chants. Plenty of time for that.

Goldust Goes Solo

Recently, Goldust turned on R-Truth and went heel This marks a solo push for Goldust. He is going to be 50 in a few years. He is obviously close to retirement. This could possibly be his last good push. Regardless of how it goes, he is obviously going into the WWE Hall of Fame. He comes from a respected wrestling family. He has won a lot of titles. And he just has an iconic character.

This current character, though, has some potential. Wrestling fans have praised Goldust in the last few years for upping his game in the ring, particularly around the time he was teaming with his brother. But his character change seems to have really refreshed him. I would like to see him used well. That does not mean a title reign. You can push someone well without a title involved. I am talking non-title midcard feuds and storylines. He can be good there.

How likely is it that the WWE does it? The WWE has been good at creating some creative interest in lower-midcarders in recent years, but then they drop the ball and they fizzle out. Remember Darren Young getting a push last year? That looked interesting for a while. But it fizzled out, even before he got injured. That can very well happen with Goldust. It would be nice to at least get a few good weeks out of him before the depush.

Has The Women's Revolution Failed?

What does it mean to give someone a chance or an opportunity? I would say it means putting them in a position where they can do something to earn and accomplish something. You are not handing them success. You are certainly not screwing them out of success. It is just up to them to deliver.

#GiveDivasAChance gave rise to the women's revolution in the WWE. People wanted the WWE to give the women a chance. They wanted them to treat the women better. Not surprisingly, the WWE's hatred of bad publicity led to them making some big changes since 2015.

Let me go back a little. During the period that the fan anger was building, you really had two problems. First, the problem with the diva era's identity, even during the years of Trish and Lita, was that it revolved around an eye-candy diva being centerpiece. The majority of female wrestlers were pushed as credible jobbers. They didn't get the kind of career in the periphery that Lita got. And no woman during the diva era pushed as a credible jobber ever got over and escaped to a better career. I would say any system that does not give people fair opportunities has an innate problem right there.

To make matters worse, the second problem is that it just became insanely inefficient. The WWE did not react well to years of failing to make another Trish Stratus. There were times I wondered what it would take to make the WWE motivated again. The success of AJ Lee, the best periphery diva they had since Lita, did not motivate them. Things continued to be terrible to the point that fans finally went on Twitter and destroyed the WWE. It was the inefficiency they complained about, not really the WWE's history of not giving female wrestlers fair opportunities.

The WWE responded by becoming efficient and motivated again, as well as putting better emphasis on women's wrestling. You had those three NXT women debuting in one night. The WWE got rid of the butterfly title. They dropped the term "diva" in most of the things they do. Women have been main-eventing more. They made a second women's title after the brand split. Mickie James, one of the female wrestlers that got screwed by the status quo in the diva era, was allowed to come back. There was a lot more hype and respectability to what they did.

But there were issues. For one thing, a lot of it just seemed overrated. It seemed too much. I did not think the WWE could sustain doing what they were doing, handing out so much history in such a short time. Also, a lot of fans were just not into this self-righteous atmosphere. And women that seemed so over in NXT came to the main roster and soon lost their luster. Even Mickie James, the most over diva the WWE had for a number of years, has not gotten a good reaction. Even with the WWE's improvements, they were still inefficient in a lot of ways. Depth issues is one of the reasons they have looked inefficient. Lastly, you cannot deny that there have been some horrendous botches that make you believe the WWE needed to hold these women back.

Recently, things just seem to have gotten worse. I see more and more fans asking what happened to the women's revolution. Smackdown's women's division has always been treated as the weaker division since the brand split came back. They have three women that were essentially jobbers being tossed together to form a heel stable. That has led to a multi-woman PPV match. And did that feud even deserve a contract signing at all? Over on Raw, Alexa Bliss is being treated as the queen bee. Everyone else is literally getting smacked around by her. Sasha Banks is stuck in a filler feud with Alicia Fox. Mickie James is jobbing worse than she ever has, which is obviously one of the reasons she is not as over as she used to be. Matches seem to be shorter and less impressive.

Alexa Bliss getting the push she is getting is straight out of the diva era. That's Trish Stratus. She is pushed for her looks. She is not great in the ring. Even if she improves, she got this big push in the first place because of her looks. This is the foundation that the diva era was built on. Build around a hot model-type performer that will improve as time goes on. Funny thing is, looking around, a lot of smarks love Alexa Bliss. She still has some critics and people blaming her for the demise of the women's revolution, but she does have a lot of fans. It is somewhat ironic that the WWE finally succeeded in making a new eye-candy centerpiece in an era that was supposed to be about female wrestlers.

Has the women's revolution failed? It sure is heading in the direction of failure. Whom should you blame? You can't really blame Alexa Bliss. The WWE has control over which women will get pushed and how. Question is, does the WWE have a right to do what they are doing? Are they justified off of the inability of the female wrestlers to get the job done? I started off today by saying an opportunity means putting someone in a position to succeed. If they do not do well, you have to move on. Problem is, did the WWE do a good job putting these women in a position to succeed? I am not suggesting they sabotaged things and screwed these women on purpose. But they certainly did botch things terribly at times in how they handled these women. The women have definitely not knocked it out of the park. But it comes down to whether or not they were given a fair, proper chance. If they were, they have to take the blame for things not being as they were last year. If they were not, blame the WWE.

Regardless of who is to blame, I do not think things have to be getting as bad as they seem to be getting. For one thing, Alexa Bliss should not have to be the centerpiece on Raw. She could be pushed well in the periphery. She still gets something meaningful to do, without really corrupting the respectability that was defining Raw's women's division for the past year. The legitimate female wrestlers can then work with themselves. If Emma had not gotten injured, there could have been a lot of fresh feuds with just the female wrestlers on Raw. Keep in mind there are a ton of women on the brand Mickie James has never had a legitimate feud against. As for Smackdown, stop giving every woman something to do. Create great singles feuds that also involves other women as supporting players. And let these women get some of the legitimate history that is to be had. The first chance these women had has not been great, but it might be time to think about giving them a second chance.

Jinder Mahal Wins WWE Championship

Well, I did say Jinder Mahal had a better chance winning the WWE Championship than Dolph Ziggler had beating Nakamura. And Mahal did win it. Honestly, I did not think it was likely. Then again, the WWE has done some crazy booking recently. This is the most out-of-nowhere WWE Championship win since Sheamus beating Cena for the his first title run.

Jinder Mahal is a guy I have made fun of for years. I see a mixed reaction from fans on the Internet. Some love it. Some are wondering how many viewers Smackdown will lose. Some are wondering how Jinder Mahal has not failed a wellness test. For those that love it, outside of those of Indian descent, I would say it is more the shock value and someone like Mahal winning it than fans really loving this guy. I am not saying no one likes him. I am just saying a lot of it are bandwagoners.

For those that did want him to win the title, I have paid attention to what they said. Again, I am talking outside of Indian fans. The other fans are pointing out how hard Jinder Mahal has worked, his physique, and the fact that he gets a reaction. As far as hard work goes, you mean to tell me someone like Cesaro or Sami Zayn does not work hard? As for his new look, what happened to smarks hating Vince McMahon loving muscular men? And as far as his overness goes, I remember when he got no reaction at all during his first run. I remember fans laughing about it. I wouldn't make too much of that overness. If the WWE did not push him as well as they have, he would not be getting it. If they pushed him as poorly as they did in his first run, he would not be over. If they pushed him as poorly as they did during his first few months back, he would not be over. If they pushed him as poorly as they push Mickie James, he would not be over. I think you can get the idea. This guy is a product of his push. I am not impressed by Jinder Mahal.

Even with the work the WWE put into this guy, he is still someone that was just a jobber two months ago.  You can't push someone like crap for a long period of time and just plug them in and expect them to be great. Mahal did get some heavy, rushed build, but I would say it is not enough. If it really was so easy to do this kind of thing, the WWE would have no issues. Fans would always buy into whatever the WWE was doing. The WWE would be as hot as they were in the Attitude Era. The same proportion of the overall audience back then that was interested in the WWE would still be here. Because there are more people in the world today than back then, that means the WWE would have even more fans today. And ratings would be a lot better than they are. No DVR or Hulu excuses. This is must-see TV and the fans would be tuning in to see Raw and Smackdown live. But that's not happening. And that is because the WWE is not as hot as they were and are making terrible mistakes these days. I would say putting the WWE Championship on a jobber falls in that category.

Previewing The Backlash 2017 Main Events

I never thought I would live to see the day that Jinder Mahal was getting a WWE Championship match. It is happening at Backlash this Sunday. He will face Randy Orton.

Is there any good reason for Jinder Mahal to win the title? People can talk about appealing to the Indian market and this being a response to TNA going to India, or whatever along those lines. If the WWE really cared that much, it would not have taken depth problems a decade ago for The Great Khali to get a title reign. The WWE has done some terrible things with title reigns recently, so it is not out of the question that Jinder Mahal gets a title win.

I will say Randy Orton retains the title. Randy Orton has not done anything since winning the title at Wrestlemania. He lost to Bray Wyatt in a non-title match. He now finds himself in this feud with Mahal. Yes, John Cena beat AJ Styles for the title a few months ago, then did nothing with it, except lose it to Bray Wyatt. But there is no good reason to do that here for the sake of Jinder Mahal. I would have given the title back to Bray Wyatt. I have mentioned it before. But if they have kept it on Orton this long, there is still more they can do with him. They can soon turn him heel and have him defend against face AJ Styles or Shinsuke Nakamura.

Speaking of Nakamura, he faces Dolph Ziggler. You would normally not consider this match worthy of being the main event of a PPV, but the WWE does whacky things in the WWE Network Era. A non-title match between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton headlined a PPV last year over a WWE Championship match. Women have main-evented a PPV last year, as well. The WWE might feel this match is more worthy to close the show than the match involving Jinder Mahal.

The WWE has hyped up Nakamura's debut and built up to this match. Aside from house shows and dark matches, he has not had an official match on Smackdown. This is it. I have seen some fans talk like the WWE is testing how much of a draw this guy is by having his debut happen at Backlash. I would not expect too much, but the WWE will likely treat this well and smarks that tend to dominate PPV audiences will likely be very loud for Nakamura.

Is there any reason at all for Dolph Ziggler to win this match? I would say Jinder Mahal has a better chance winning the WWE Championship. Everyone knows Dolph Ziggler is just a stepping stone in this feud. The WWE has done some dumb booking recently, usually to prolong feuds, but there is no reason to prolong this feud. Some fans were unhappy when AJ Styles took his first loss in a singles match just a few weeks after debuting. He still got some wins before that loss to Jericho. I can't say how long Nakamura will be undefeated on the main roster, but there is no reason to start him off with a loss.

Previewing The Backlash 2017 Undercard

Let me continue previewing this lackluster PPV with Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin. Both of these guys should be doing better. Which one of them can afford to lose this feud? I can see this one lasting another few weeks. I will say Baron Corbin wins this encounter.

Luke Harper faces Erick Rowan. I remember some fans groaning when Rowan beat Harper a little while ago. Some fans defended it by saying Rowan needs momentum. Why? There are ways to build a feud without having the two sides involved actually pin each other. Harper is likely to win here.

The tag titles will be defended. The Usos defend against Breezango. I am all for new tag teams getting the spotlight. Breezango's current gimmick is just stupid. It is hard to take them seriously. The Usos have not done much since winning the tag titles a few months ago. I will say they retain against the comic relief and eventually defend them against New Day.

Kevin Owens defends the United States Championship against AJ Styles. This feud is still too young to feel as major as it should. You also had Owens having to finish his feud against Jericho. Those two juggled the title between themselves. I won't say it hurt Owens vs. Styles too much, but it was there as a distraction. AJ Styles should not win the title here. I would say he should not win it at all. He doesn't need it. Give the midcard titles back to the midcarders. AJ Styles does not need this to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, which is an excuse some of his fans might make for why he should get it. Sting got inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Sting never won a title in the WWE. Sting never even won a PPV match in the WWE. AJ Styles is already doing better in the WWE than him. I will say Owens retains here. It might be by DQ or by getting counted out.

Previewing The Backlash 2017 Women's Match

In the past, I have brought up the point that Smackdown frequently gets the short end of the stick with their women's division as compared to Raw. They don't hype it as well and don't feature history as much and as well as Raw does. It is not unusual for them to push quantity over quality. In the past, I have brought up Charlotte's tendency to be overpushed. Last year, the WWE handed her a lot of title reigns and history in a short span. It really got annoying. When these two identities met, you have to believe something would have to give.

Let me just say that I am not a fan of either of those two things I just mentioned. The women on Smackdown should be promoted better. If the WWE wants to make this division a little more diva-like, that's one thing. But all these multi-woman matches and everything else isn't good. And no one should be pushed like Charlotte was last year. It doesn't get you popular. Even if you were popular and talented and deserved a fabulous career, the way Charlotte was being pushed last year was too much.

Back to Charlotte's tendency to be overpushed vs. Smackdown's tendency to be mediocre. So far, it looks like the latter is winning. Charlotte may have gotten a title shot in the main event a few weeks ago, but she has not won the title yet. More importantly, the first Smackdown PPV since the trades last month will not have a title match. It will not even have a singles match. It will have a six-woman tag match. The first Raw PPV since the trades featured a title match. Once again, Smackdown fails to present their women as well as Raw is.

The match for Backlash will be Naomi, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch vs. Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina (The Welcoming Committe). The whole things seems pretty stupid. You can't mistreat people for a long amount of time, then start pushing them as a threat and expect people to care. Natalya may be a former Diva's Champion, but that was many years ago and she has been treated terribly and inconsistently since. Carmella was lost in the shuffle for a while before they pretty much had to start featuring her again for Wrestlemania. And Tamina is Tamina. I mentioned that main event between Charlotte and Naomi. That was when this group was formed. Even then, this feud did not deserve the main event.

It would be easy to say the face team wins at Backlash. The heels are essentially jobbers. They have been built up to have momentum. The face team features women that have actually been pushed better.

And yet, I can imagine the WWE letting the heels win. Smackdown has done some dumb booking decisions to extend feuds that a lot of fans would have just liked to have seen end. They have to. With the depth issue, they have to extend feuds. Moreover, did the WWE put work into making a group just to kill it after a month? Because I can't imagine Charlotte going back to feud with Naomi for the title right away. They will probably put it on a heel first, then have the heel put over Charlotte. But if The Welcoming Committee loses already, that ruins their credibility. Again, Smackdown has done some terrible things when developing heels to put over faces, like how they treated Mickie James a couple months ago against Becky Lynch. They could very drop the ball again with this feud.

This match can go either way. But since it is a meaningless match, I am not going to kill myself over it. I will say faces win.

Does Kurt Angle Add Anything As Raw GM?

A few weeks ago, Kurt Angle got inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. They followed that up by making him the new Raw GM, taking Mick Foley's place. How has Kurt Angle been doing? Ratings certainly have not been up since the WWE brought back one of the biggest names from the days the company was much hotter than it is today. Aside from that, what can be said?

One thing I noticed is some fans saying they wished Kurt Angle could be more like his goofy self. They understand he has to be serious for his GM role, but these fans think goofy Kurt was the best Kurt. I don't know how much that will really help the company turn things around. Regardless, I am sure there is plenty of time to get more of that Kurt Angle down the line.

As GM, has he really done anything major? I am not talking about decisions the WWE are making that they will attribute to Kurt Angle, like trades. I am talking about major storylines or interactions involving Kurt Angle. I mean, you can stick anyone in his position and have them make the trades, book the matches, and that kind of thing. But this is Kurt Angle being the GM. Has there really been anything special to take advantage of him being in that role? I don't really feel it. I guess there will be more when Triple H and Stephanie McMahon come back.

I am not going to go too much into comparing Kurt Angle to Mick Foley, but I just felt Foley stood out more in this position. Is it his promo style? He obviously couldn't keep going in the position, but he at least felt like he was trying to be that lovable character with honor and not totally selling out to be corporate. It wasn't always smooth, but I can see something there that I do not see with Kurt Angle, yet. What is his identity?

How about fan reactions? He is getting the "You suck!" chants. But that is more just fans playing along with the old fad. It is not a sign of them really disliking him or making fun of him. I do wonder what his reactions would be like if that fad wasn't there. Because I do not really feel a strong love here. This is a guy in a situation that can definitely get stale fast. He'll still get the chant, because fans love fads and things to play along with, and wrestling fans will always respect him, but the WWE is doing enough already to please wrestling fans and that is not helping them improve on their inefficiencies. If they want to get the wider audience caring again, Kurt Angle will need to be more than just the guy getting "You suck!" chants out of nostalgic love and being respected by wrestling fans.

Has Smackdown Lost Its Edge?

Despite rarely beating Raw in the ratings since the brand split came back last year, Smackdown has been the preferred brand for most vocal wrestling fans. These fans praised the writing and the booking, as well as the talent on the roster. Recently, however, I see more fans asking what went wrong with Smackdown. They don't think it is as great as it used to be. They might still think it is better than Raw most weeks, but it feels lacking to them. Has Smackdown lost what made it so great?

Let me start with the overall roster. Obviously, there were some big moves last month. Smackdown lost three of their top men to Raw. You saw all three of those top men in the Raw main event this week. I am talking about Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, and Miz. All Smackdown really gained was Kevin Owens. You can include Chris Jericho, but he isn't even around right now. I said Smackdown had gotten the short end of the stick in those trades. Obviously, there is more to it than just the talent.

How is the talent being utilized? How about the writing and booking? In that regard, Smackdown was always overrated. Just because it was better than Raw did not mean it was really that amazing. Some bad things still happened over there. How the women's division was being handled is one example. I would also throw in how Wyatt/Orton ended up being handled. Some people expected Jack Swagger to be utilized better when he went to Smackdown. That did not work out. Let me just look at a few specific things that fans ate up last year that are not as great right now for Smackdown.

First, John Cena. Yes, smarks have hated him for a number of years. Many still do. For the most part, Smackdown used him in a way that appealed to smarks. He went to Smackdown with his feud against AJ Styles still going. The fact that he lost to Styles a few times just made smarks extremely glad. AJ Styles was also ripping him in many promos. Even though Cena did get a title reign, it was short. After that short title reign, Cena entered a feud with Miz, who once again ripped him a little bit on the mic. And fans ate that up, once again. With Cena not around right now, fans can't get excited over him jobbing cleanly to guys like Nakamura or getting ripped on the mic by someone like Kevin Owens.

Part of the problem definitely seems to be that smarks don't have that person they hate that they can get excited to see get beaten up or humiliated. That is one of the reasons many of these fans love Braun Strowman. He's been destroying Roman Reigns. If the WWE had Roman Reigns job cleanly more often and had those storylines where other wrestlers ripped him on the mic, smarks would eat it up and talk about how "amazing" it all is. I have seen it before. I hate these kind of storylines, but smarks love them. And the lack of a target makes it hard to create these storylines to please them on Smackdown.

Look at AJ Styles. He is someone wrestling fans respected for a long time now. But he seemed like a real A+ player on Smackdown as a heel. Has he lost his edge as a face? He had that heated feud with John Cena. He then went on to another heated feud with Shane McMahon. Currently, his feud with Kevin Owens lacks that heat. Everyone said he was like a pit bull during his heel run, and that is why he was able to be successful. What happens when you turn him face? Can he be as appealing? Or does he get boring to some fans?

I do not think a face turn has to ruin someone's edgy character. Look at "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. As a face, this guy still raised hell and was one of the best centerpieces of all time. Look at The Rock. As a face, this guy still owned people on the mic like no other and has transcended wrestling. I am not saying AJ Styles is like those two. But he does not have to be boring as a face. Wrestling fans will continue to love him, but the lack of edge might bore certain other fans.

I would say Smackdown has lost some of its edge. The reality-based storylines that excited so many fans are not there right now. John Cena, someone smarks could enjoy being a symbolic punching bag, is not there right now. AJ Styles has lost his heated character. It was always going to be difficult to sustain what Smackdown was doing for the last few months since the brand split came back. Is it that smarks are too demanding and can be unreasonable? Probably. Nevertheless, Smackdown is coming back down to Earth and it remains to be seen how the writers will respond.

The Development Of Jinder Mahal

The most surprising push of 2017 has to be Jinder Mahal going after the WWE Championship on Smackdown. This time last year, Mahal wasn't even in the company. He was released by the company. He was never a popular worker. The WWE never pushed him to be a star. He never even seemed like a great worker that had potential to become popular or deserved to be pushed as a star. The WWE bringing him back was surprising enough, but he now finds himself in a big feud with Randy Orton.

What has the WWE done to develop him? Because they needed to develop him. He lacks a ton of credibility and needs work for a lot of fans to buy into him. The WWE couldn't just dump a title shot in his lap. Thankfully, the WWE hasn't gotten lazy here and is putting some work in for the sake of this feud. They had him take the WWE Championship belt. They had him get some sidekicks. They had him screw Randy Orton in his match with Bray Wyatt. This week on Smackdown, Mahal even pinned Orton in a tag match. Yeah, I think they have done a lot for him in this push.

Let me just go back to Orton vs. Wyatt. I can agree with Wyatt winning, but I dislike Mahal getting involved there. I know they are feuding, but the WWE could have just given it a rest for one night to give Orton vs. Wyatt a finish just between them. After everything that happened in this feud, it just seemed like it got a weak finish. Was all that they did during that feud really even worth it? Am I saying Bray Wyatt should have gotten a clean win against Randy Orton? Yes. If Cena can give clean wins these days to some heels, why can't Orton lose cleanly to Bray Wyatt to help put him over? The title wasn't on the line. Just put Wyatt over as a guy that kind successfully be a supernatural monster, following in the line of The Undertaker. The WWE failed to do that.

On Braun Strowman's Injury

Another injury to talk about. This time, it's Braun Strowman. It seems his injury is legit and he could miss up to two months.

Braun Strowman was getting a monster push for the last few months. Some fans have said he was the best part of Raw, although ratings haven't exactly been rising these last few weeks. But was all that work to build him to put over Roman Reigns? Or Brock Lesnar?

Before looking down the road, what is lost right now? Braun Strowman is someone I would consider an upper-midcarder. Yes, he was main-eventing a bit in recent weeks, but he doesn't feel like a long-term main-eventer, so I call him an upper-midcarder. Whatever you want to call him, I don't think his loss for a few months would hurt the depth too badly. Raw has a ton of guys they can push as main-eventers, and raiding Smackdown of some of their stars last month helped. They have Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Miz, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, and a few other guys that can be promoted to a bigger push rather easily, like Sheamus or one of The Hardys. It probably won't even come to pushing Sheamus as a top heel prior to Strowman coming back. This is not an emergency situation right now.

Now, look down the road. A collision between Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman just seemed likely. It can still happen down the line, but what does Lesnar do for his first title defense in a few months? Strowman will likely not be back in time for it to make it a proper feud. This seems like a bigger issue than the main-event depth losing Strowman. It is too soon for Reigns to once again go against Lesnar. The WWE would save that for a bigger PPV. Of course, since this is a throwaway PPV, the WWE might just get lazy with it and do whatever. Pick any of the other guys I recently mentioned and toss them against Lesnar. Dean Ambrose? Finn Balor? Bray Wyatt and Lesnar have unfinished business. Still a few options to go with and lots of time to plan. It will be interesting to see what the WWE chooses to do.

Aside from Lesnar, you have to wonder what Roman Reigns will do. He was feuding with Strowman right now. That feud was certainly not over. Maybe the WWE should have just had him stay away for a little while longer and come back to start a fresh feud. Instead, the WWE had Reigns and Strowman go at it again on Raw this week. Strowman should probably not try to work through the injury for a hardcore-style match that this feud was obviously leading to, likely an Ambulance Match. You have to wonder if all the stunts they are having him do might be a little responsible for his injury issues. In any case, Roman Reigns is in an even worse position than Brock Lesnar. The WWE has less time to react for him before the next Raw PPV he will likely be performing at.

Emma Injured

Emma suffered an injury recently while the WWE was on their international tour. It still remains to be seen how serious it is and how long she will be out, if she will miss time at all. Just for the sake of discussion, let's talk about what happens if she does miss extended time.

This is not the first time Emma has suffered an injury. She suffered a serious one last year. The "Emmalina" angle then followed this year. That got dropped and she returned with the same character she had before her previous injury. She was getting a storyline with Dana Brooke, her former partner. It didn't look like it would be that great of a storyline, but it was still something to do.

It is bad luck for her. I am not going to put her in the same category as Naomi. For one thing, Emma has never been getting a serious push that got ruined because of injury issues. If she is out for a long time, she should be allowed to come back and get another angle. Just like I said with Naomi, however, the WWE should not be planning to rush any titles on her. She needs to stay healthy. First things first, I think it is more important to just get her over. I don't think most fans, beyond the smarks, have gotten to know her that well. With all the injuries, going back to NXT, and whatever other issues, she has never really gotten a chance to really get fans to know her on the main roster.

I would say that she should reinvent herself again. I know that will not be easy to do. A lot of fans who watch NXT fell in love with the heel character she developed there. Problem is, assuming she is out for a while, that character is now a couple years old. It has never gotten anywhere, although you can't blame Emma for that. I am not saying she come back as Emmalina, but this heel character just seems like it lost any freshness it had left.

Is the depth of the Raw women's division hurt? Raw still has a lot of women. You saw them all last week. Even with Emma out, they can just use Alicia Fox more, if they really need to.

Aside from roster depth, you have to think about creative depth. As I mentioned, Emma was getting a storyline going with Dana Brooke. Assuming Emma is out for a while, that storyline is now ruined and the only storyline going on right now is the one revolving around Alexa Bliss. It is always good to have multiple angles going. It gives multiple people something meaningful to do and gives fans more to talk about.

I would start a storyline with Dana Brooke, Mickie James, and Nia Jax. Dana Brooke isn't good enough to push as a serious in-ring worker. But she is there and she has character potential. Nia Jax is a heel that is arguably just under Alexa Bliss in Raw's women's division. The WWE would probably want to give her something. And Mickie James needs help with her character. She had a bad heel character on Smackdown and a poor face turn. Some people were still unsure whether she was face or heel until last week, when she teamed with the other faces. For the many fans that do not know who Mickie James is, it is time to give them a reason to care. I would have Dana Brooke vs. Nia Jax. Nia wins and continues to bully Dana. Mickie James comes out for the save. And just take things from there. Should Emma return before this feud ends, she can team with Nia Jax against Mickie James and Dana Brooke. That way, multiple women get something meaningful to do.

Cesaro & Sheamus Turn Heel

The big development for the tag division this past week is Sheamus & Cesaro turning heel. That continues their feud with The Hardys.

I would say that this team has lasted long enough. It might have been time to just break them up. Problem is, injury issues ruined one heel team that recently got called up, The Revival. Just due to poor depth, the WWE probably had to do this heel turn. If nothing else, it at least refreshes these two. Sheamus & Cesaro were getting a little stale.

It is amazing when you stop and think about it. In April, you had a legendary tag team return and a promising tag team from NXT debut. The roster moves in April didn't really destroy Raw's tag division. But all it took was one injury to one member of these tag teams and the WWE is in a tough spot.

Could the WWE have done something different? Push Anderson & Gallows against The Hardys? Those two are also stale. Of course, the WWE should have pushed another face team against The Hardys. Enzo & Cass could have gotten title shots. Or they could have done multiple teams going after the tag titles moving forward. They also could have thrown together two other guys and create a new team. They definitely could have killed time until Dash Wilder returned. But I won't criticize the WWE too much for the choice they made.

The Ups And Downs Of Chris Jericho And The United States Championship

An unexpected title change at Payback was Chris Jericho winning the United States Championship from Kevin Owens. That sent Jericho to Smackdown. And he immediately lost the title back to Owens. Owens then destroyed Jericho so he can go back to his music career.

It seems like the only thing this whole thing accomplished was sending Jericho to Smackdown. He certainly didn't need another title run so soon, especially one so short. But was it really worth it? Send Jericho to Smackdown just to write him off? I have pointed out that Smackdown lost a lot of top guys and did not get the same number back from Raw. But a part-timer like Jericho might not really be the best option.

Even then, there were better ways to have handled the situation. They could have traded Jericho to Smackdown along with Owens. That might also settled the hypocrisy of Jericho getting his rematch for the United States Championship, while Bray Wyatt did not get his rematch for the WWE Championship. Jericho would be getting his rematch because he is on the same brand as Owens and the title, while Wyatt was not getting his rematch because he was on a different brand from Orton and the WWE Championship. They also could have had Owens retain at Payback and destroy Jericho there. Jericho gets written off and can eventually return one day on whatever brand Owens is on.

The whole thing just created a momentary distraction in the feud between Kevin Owens and AJ Styles. I would not have done it the way they did it. I can understand wanting another big name on Smackdown and I can understand needing to write off Jericho. But the whole situation could have been handled a lot better. Smackdown gains a guy that immediately takes time off. That sounds pretty dumb. In any case, the WWE can now move on and go back to the story they were building on Smackdown.

First Four Months Of 2017 Ratings Review

The first four months of the year are over. That period included Wrestlemania season and the leftover hype from the big event. It is all really downhill from here for the WWE. How did Raw and Smackdown do? And what about Impact Wrestling (TNA)? I get my numbers from here and here.

Let me start with Impact Wrestling. Through the first four months of 2017, the show averaged 297,000 viewers. For the first four months of 2016, the show averaged 288,000.

The prediction I made for TNA was that they could do just as well as they did last year or better. I did not anticipate a big drop for them this year. Next thing you know, they lose The Hardys, they change their name, and Jeff Jarrett is once again very much involved. You would expect TNA to be a sinking ship. And yet, they aren't doing too bad. They have done well this year, so far. Did merging GFW with TNA manage to create some interest? It's not that GFW was that well-known. Just the angle in itself generated hype. TNA will still have to close the year strong to do better than the 310,800 they averaged for all of 2016.

Onto the WWE. Start with Raw. Raw has averaged a 2.23 in the ratings from January to April this year. That is already below the 2.26 they averaged for all of 2016. They averaged 2.54 during the first four months of last year.

The thing you had to keep in mind about last year was that it was an election year. All the drama created an excuse for why ratings were down. You would expect the WWE to bounce back this year. It did in previous years there was an election to recover from. Raw has not bounced back. They have not cracked 4 million live viewers this year so far and likely will fail to do it at all. The WWE may never get 4 million live viewers again. People can talk about DVR and whatever else all they want, but Raw got over 5 million live viewers just two years ago. Last year, two episodes of Raw got over 4 million live viewers. It is pretty terrible for Raw to not be able to reach that mark again, especially in a year that should have been better than last year.

How about Smackdown? So far, 1.86. Last year, 1.74 through the first four months.

Obviously, Smackdown is up. Why? They made it its own brand again and have been having important things happen there. Being live and putting it on a convenient night also helps. But the reason I wanted to talk about ratings at all right now is because I noticed some people bringing up Smackdown's poor numbers lately. The last two episodes did 1.72 and 1.71, respectively. Smackdown has gotten its lowest viewership of the year last week. Why is this happening? Some people want to blame Randy Orton once again being WWE Champion. Some people want to blame the women. You can talk about the shake up hurting Smackdown. Thing is, there is always a ratings drop during this time of year. You've got NBA playoffs. To a lesser degree, baseball season is back. I wouldn't put the blame on any one person, although I do think Smackdown losing some stars will hurt it in the long run.

What can the WWE do to improve? Obviously, there is room for improvement. TNA has been getting more viewers for the first four months of this year than they did for the same span last year. Smackdown has been doing better in the ratings during this span than they did last year. Raw's excuse simply cannot be that no one watches TV anymore. It doesn't come down to stars. The WWE has signed a whole bunch of people over the last few years, including legendary stars of the past to be part-timers. These guys aren't just appearing on the WWE Network. They have been showing up on Raw. And it isn't helping enough. The WWE needs to stop looking for easy answers and work on changing their atmosphere. Treat the workers they have properly. Try to limit inconsistency and stupidity in the development of storylines, feuds, and characters. Decide what they want their identity to be and embrace it. It sometimes feels like the WWE is trying to be too many things and it just doesn't work. They have to be PG, but they still try to be edgy. That dumpster fiasco last week is a good example. In theory, it makes for an exciting moment. How they did it, however, just ended up being lame. They need to focus on being entertaining. It might help if they just stopped listening to smarks. They gave those fans a chance in a lot of ways. How has it worked out? The WWE shouldn't need the approval of those fans to know what is good. They need to think clearly to figure what appeals to those fans, and the wider audience. Because it is the wider audience that is more likely to tune out, not sour critics that tune in just to complain.

State Of The WWE Women's Division: May 2017

The brand split is less than a year old. It took a while, but you could start to see individual identities arise for the separate women's divisions on Raw and Smackdown. Raw was the more serious women's division. It got featured better at the major PPVs since the brand split. Only the NXT elite held the Women's Championship. History was being "made" right and left. Meanwhile, Smackdown was the last stand of the diva era. I don't mean to imply there is anything wrong with that. They let women that obviously were not hyped very much for their in-ring work get title reigns. But whatever you want to say about those identities, the trades last month shook it up.

Let me start with Raw. Alexa Bliss won the Women's Championship last night from Bayley. Ever since this title was created last year, only the NXT elite held it. That would be Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Bayley, three of the 4 Horsewomen. Alexa Bliss may have come from NXT, but she's not considered elite in the ring. I would say giving her the title was a terrible idea. The WWE should have maintained their standards. Alexa Bliss isn't as terrible in the ring as Dana Brooke, but she is not considered as great in the ring as she should have to be to win Raw's Women's Championship, especially after the women on Raw spent over a year creating that respectable identity for that title. And for someone like her to have already won more titles in less than a year than Becky Lynch has won since coming to the main roster 2 years ago is terrible, especially in this era that is supposed to be more about female wrestlers, like Becky Lynch, than divas, like Alexa Bliss.

I cannot see the WWE handling things right from here. I still believe Sasha Banks should have been the one turning heel and going after Bayley for the title. After Alexa Bliss finishes with Bayley, they can still go to Sasha Banks, but what would be the point? Sasha Banks is going to put over women's wrestling and talk about how women like Alexa Bliss are ruining the women's revolution? The WWE really needs to move away from those kind of storylines. Sasha Banks is pretty much a face RTC Ivory. Not only that, fans were anticipating that heel turn for Sasha Banks. I am not always a believer that a heel turn fixes everything, but they probably should have gone through with that for Sasha Banks. They teased it and never followed through.

Aside from that, Raw has the angle between Emma and Dana Brooke going on. It may not seem like much, but it is a storyline. Creative depth is a good thing, especially when handled right. Problem is, I don't know if they have the roster depth to make this angle good. They already dug up Alicia Fox last week as a jobber for this angle. After a while, though it may just go nowhere. It might end up like the angle between Carmella and James Ellsworth. It started out with some actual segments. Ever since, you just take it for granted that Ellsworth is there and will get knocked around by the women. I can see the angle between Emma and Dana Brooke eventually just lead to something mediocre. Nevertheless, still something to talk about.

Mickie James and Nia Jax are getting nothing to talk about. A feud seems obvious, but I don't like it. Mickie James deserves better than this. It just gets hard to book Nia Jax after a while. You can't always have her look so dominant. And she's also not a great in-ring worker, which makes you wonder if she even deserves to look so dominant. This would just be a very terrible feud. Mickie James needs help establishing her character. An angle in the periphery might be better for her than a feud, whether she wins or loses. At the same time, I wonder if the WWE even has space for this women's feud on Raw.

Over to Smackdown. The WWE has not given Charlotte the Women's Championship there yet. That is shocking. The WWE has overrated her a ton, including handing her history on multiple occasions. And they pass by the opportunity to do it again by making her the first woman to have held both titles? That just seems unlike them. They are obviously high on Alexa Bliss, but Charlotte has been featured as above her. Moreover, they did not even make enough out of the potential angle they had of Alexa Bliss and Charlotte racing to make history. The whole thing started and ended in less than a month. I just would have expected more out of them.

Charlotte did have a title shot last week against Naomi. This was the main event of Smackdown. Yeah, that seems like something the WWE would do for Charlotte. But this match had no business being in the main event. The last time Smackdown had women in the main event, it was a steel cage match, it was the culmination of an angle they were running for weeks, and it featured a return. Charlotte vs. Naomi had only been going on about 2 weeks before this match. It was hardly an interesting feud. It didn't have time to be an interesting feud. And then Natalya, Tamina, and Carmella attacked the two women. No offense, but is this the female Job Squad? It is hard to take any of these women seriously. And even when they win matches, they never seem to go anywhere. And the WWE decided to have Smackdown end with this group standing tall.

With all this, you can see Charlotte turning face. Is it a good idea? As far as Charlotte goes, she is not great when it comes to showing character. The WWE will have to help her with how she is portrayed to make the character work. As far as depth goes, they needed to do it. Your faces were Becky Lynch and Naomi, who has a history of injuries, whether you want to blame her for the injuries or certain women she has worked with. Nikki Bella is a face, but she is not around. Your heels were Charlotte, Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina. Terrible face/heel depth has been an issue with Smackdown's women's division before. But they made the right decision to do a face turn. Did it have to be Charlotte? It just seems like the most convenient option. I am not going to criticize them for what they did.

One thing Smackdown has been good about is creative depth. They frequently have had multiple angles going on for the women. Where is that now? All the women seem to be stuffed into this angle involving Charlotte. The only other thing you have going on is the debut vignettes for Lana, which looks like another throwback to the diva era. I don't think debut vignettes should really count. Smackdown has lost one of the things it has done right with their women. Will Charlotte bury the division? Or will Smackdown eventually get on track again and have multiple proper angles going on for the women?

Overall, the two divisions really do seem to have lost their identities. Don't get me wrong, both identities were imperfect. There was still a lot of room for improvement. But it seems like some of the things the two brands were doing right have been hurt. Raw doesn't feel as respectable as it used to be. Smackdown might become too centerpiece-driven. And I do think overall match quality will be hurt. I never believed the WWE could sustain what they were doing last year, but it will be interesting to see if fans keep on buying into what is going on as much as they did last year.