4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Mar 10)
1. ARGH! Nightmare Stuff For Rhea Ripley!
Fans pelted Rhea Ripley with the dreaded, "WHAT?!" chants on Friday night, and that does not bode well for her going forwards. Worse, Rhea had nothing to counter them with, because the material for her rivalry with Charlotte is especially weak. This woman won the Royal Rumble, for f*ck sake.
What is going on?
WWE's casting feels totally wrong. Ripley vs. Flair is actually coming out like a feud they're trying to make a mess of. Clearly, the writers aren't deliberately blowing this, but they're doing a rotten job with build towards the SmackDown Women's Title showdown at 'Mania 39. It doesn't come across as epic at all.
Segments involving Rhea and Charlotte have been so poor that WWE had to plonk Dominik Mysterio in there to add some heat! That says everything, and fans shouldn't expect any dramatic improvements before bell time in April.
Yuck.