10 HUGE Problems With WWE's Raw Vs SmackDown Survivor Series Concept

2. Oh Captain, My Captain

Baron Corbin The Miz
WWE.com

On Monday Night Raw, Alicia Fox became captain of the red brand's women's team captain after defeating Bayley and Sasha Banks. Becky Lynch went through similar motions against her entire team to become SmackDown Live!'s equivalent. But what does it even mean anymore? And how on earth will it actually help the team win the match? Is winning matches is still even important in WWE?

Lynch had to nearly break Carmella's arm in order to win the top spot on her team. But why would she go to such lengths, especially as a babyface? Raw, meanwhile, is in dire straits. Fox was given the win ostensibly because otherwise she probably wouldn't warrant a place on the team at all. Asuka and Emma had two excellent matches in 48 hours, Bayley and Banks are reliable hands, and Mickie James came within touching distance of a record-equalling Women's Title win against Alexa Bliss. She hadn't won a match on Raw since May. What even is a leader that has shown no propensity to lead?

Cavernous cracks such as these will be what WWE will have to paper over for an entire month of television. Not known for nuance, it's hard to imagine writers even bothering to plug such inconvenient gaps.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett