13 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (July 23)
2. Sonya & Mandy Get Sloppy
The Sonya Deville/Mandy Rose friendship has, for a long time, been one of WWE's most organic and believable onscreen relationships, with the company generally doing a grand job of presenting the real-life besties as a couple of three-dimensional human beings who prioritise their bond above all else, despite the odd hitch.
Unfortunately, the directors let them down last night. Rose and Deville stumbled through an awkward, awkward backstage promo that began with a game of "guess who?", as Mandy covered Sonya's eyes. 'God's Greatest Creation' spoke about them overhearing The IIconics talk about what KO did to Shane McMahon, so she approached the 'Best In The World,' who gave them a match for next week. Naturally, Deville asked if this meant a Women's Tag Team Title match. Rose responded in the affirmative... then said if they win, they deserve a shot, and a pregnant pause followed, ending the segment on the weirdest note. Check it out here and you'll understand.
Whether this was a scripting error or a c*ck-up on the performers' behalf, it should have been re-shot before making the show. That WWE didn't recognise it is surprising, given their typically immaculate production values, and that they haven't even bothered uploading it to YouTube speaks volumes.