10 Things We Learned From WWE SmackDown (June 6)
Lana Del Fray.
It all kicked off on SmackDown Live! last week, as Shane McMahon announced that the 'Land of Opportunity' would play host to the first ever women's Money In The Bank ladder match at the blue brand-exclusive pay-per-view next Sunday.
It adds to a card low on quantity but high on quality, with New Day's return to the Tag Team Title hunt against The Usos, Randy Orton's WWE Championship rematch against Jinder Mahal and a loaded male Money In The Bank contest featuring Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler and Sami Zayn.
Meanwhile, several key talents remained missing in action or anchored at the bottom of WWE's ocean, but the multi-person format in the two headline matches afforded extra space for at least one more last minute conflict to manifest in the form of a pay-per-view clash.
With only two shows left before what's now considered one of the biggest pay-per-views in the WWE calendar, how would the four contests continue to build, and would some of the long-neglected members of the Tuesday Night roster attempt to battle their way on to the card whilst slots still remain available?
10. Money
SmackDown Live! opened not with the separate entrances of the five women competing in the historic first ever women's Money In The Bank ladder match, but of Shane McMahon skipping and dancing his way to ringside as stars of the blue brand's female division patiently awaited his arrival.
Minor profiling irritation aside, the segment was given due prominence and succeeded in making the match feel like a co-main event alongside the mens version also on the show.
In truth, following yet more questionable build for the male equivalent (more on that later), the first-time nature of the match and unpredictability of the outcome make the Women's Title contest substantially more intriguing.
After the all-new white briefcase was unveiled, the microphones were passed around for the competitors to hit their catchphrases (or as Becky Lynch noted to Natalya, Bret Hart's), shortly before Naomi attempted to re-assert her authority on the situation ahead of the six-women tag match due to follow.
Things progressed well up until a redebut of what would turn out to be a very popular performer, so popular in fact that WWE completely misjudged how to script an upcoming conflict...