5 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (July 14)
Ups...
5. Women's Match Improves On Raw
As paper thin as aspects of Dana Brooke's performance were on Monday Night Raw, she was understandably protected a little more on SmackDown. The heel still lost, but then that's her role in the ongoing rivalry between Charlotte and Sasha Banks over the WWE Women's Championship.
There's nothing wrong with Brooke losing, she just needs WWE to look after her in-ring work a little more. What happened on SmackDown was exactly what probably should have happened on Raw, Dana lost in just a few minutes to Banks, making the babyface look strong and avoiding those lengthy stretches of uncomfortable ring time for the rookie.
With the upcoming brand extension, this kind of rematch booking across both shows will stop. That will be welcome, because SmackDown only highlighted just how poorly conceived the Raw main event was between both these women. They required greater care from management to make the match mean anything.