10 Things We Learned From WWE SmackDown (June 6)

9. The Big Dance

Naomi Shane McMahon Lana
WWE

After months of promotion (and an worryingly abrupt halt last week), Lana landed on SmackDown Live! as a version of herself manifested by weeks of dance routine videos set to a swing soundtrack.

The reinvention appeared designed to make her a babyface following her on-screen separation from real life husband Rusev, and fans responded in kind with a huge pop and loud 'Lana' chants as the 'Ravishing Russian' prepared to express herself for the first time in months.

However, the segment tried turn her heel, attempting to present her as naive and inexperienced amongst the others in the ring, especially Women's Champion Naomi. The audience weren't having it. Naomi came across as bratty and irritating whilst Lana suddenly became the crowd's avatar in the segment.

Brushing off Shane McMahon's patronising attempt to shoo her out of the ring, Lana reiterated her Twitter request to be considered for inclusion in the women's Money In The Bank ladder match, but was respectfully rebuffed by the boss much to the crowd's chagrin.

Her Talking Smack appearance later in the show following the booking of her match against Naomi saw more confident posturing from the former valet, confidently predicting that she would be the 'face' of SmackDown Live! Based on this crowd, she already is.

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