5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (22 May - Results & Review)
3. Title Match Teaser & A Fun Tag Sprint
Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid lost to Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley (who replaced a "sick" Alexa Bliss), but they looked good despite that defeat. Thankfully, Fatal Influence won’t lose much steam because of this, because their loss was handled well. On top of that, we’re clearly building towards Rhea vs. Charlotte for the Women’s Title heading deeper into summer, and that’s a good thing.
Yeah, this was just really good content overall: The tag match was a hoot, there was some story context hiding within, and we’re putting building blocks in place for a massive title showdown that hasn't been seen in years. Perhaps the only downside is that whole Jade Cargill, Michin and B-FAB thing. WWE are botching Jade badly these days. Missing out on that Bianca Belair feud has been brutal for her, and her heel group is the least interesting on SmackDown.
Bummer.
Back to the positivity before getting bogged down in all of that noise. Fallon and Lainey more than held their own against 2 top stars in the division, so they should be proud of their Friday night's work. Listen, everyone has to lose at some point, and there's defo no disgrace in staring at the lights for names like Flair and Ripley. Fatal Influence will be fine. In Jacy Jayne we trust!
See, SmackDown's creative team can construct compelling matches that push good stories along when they want to. Where has this fire been in the women's division over the past couple of weeks? Hopefully, SmackDown in Lexington is a sign of things to come.