11 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (3 Sept)

7. An Overdue Elevation

Sonya Deville Mandy Rose Fire & Desire
WWE.com

It's about time that WWE shone a bigger spotlight on Mandy Rose or Sonya Deville; not because they're better wrestlers than everyone else in their division (they aren't), but because they're an actual tag team.

Fire and Desire should have been one of the first tandems elevated when the Women's Tag Team Championships came into play. Instead, they've remained on the periphery, fighting for scraps while other duos occupied what little spotlight the belts were given. They've never fought for the gold in a straight-up two-on-two situation. Now, it looks like they'll get that opportunity.

Rose and Deville remain among the women's division's most promising prospects, with both demonstrating great improvement since graduating to the main roster. Neither is the finished article, but they're a dependable, believable team, and it's nice to see them finally elevated in the title hunt. Let's hope they don't fall too far down the rankings if they end up losing to Cross and Bliss.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.