7 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE SmackDown (24 April - Results & Review)
1. WWE Keep Jacy Jayne Strong
What a night this was for Jayne specifically.
She got to hang with Rhea Ripley in a hastily-assembled Women’s Title match, and the incoming NXT star didn’t even have to do the clean job. Instead, her Fatal Influence pals interfered for the DQ. Everyone won big here. Rhea got that first title defence under her belt, Jayne and faction look like a threat from the off, and the women’s division on Fridays just got a nice shakeup. To that point, Blake Monroe is incoming too.
This was a really good experience for Jacy, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid, and it’s clear that Ripley will work as the division’s focal point. IYO SKY’s absence could be considered slightly surprising, but she’ll be along to help Rhea at some stage. Those crocodile tears between friends on Raw will look even more odd in retrospect, especially once IYO sprints out to help 'Mami'.
Or, perhaps her absence will be used to slow burn build towards a Women's Title war between tag-team partners. Who knows? In the short-term, it's Fatal Influence who will take the fight to Rhea whilst simultaneously going for the Women's Tag belts held by Paige and Bella on top of that. These ladies are about to be real busy.
This match will be used as a reference point for more to come between Jayne and Ripley in the future, and that's a positive. Honestly, the Influence trio's debut couldn't have gone any better. This is what they would've dreamed about doing on the main roster, and now they're all here living it.
What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more wrestling content like this, check out 15 New Directions For WWE After WrestleMania 42 and 10 Way Too Early Card Predictions For WWE WrestleMania 43!