2 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE SmackDown (May 8)

Downs...

6. Tamina Beating Bayley

Tamina Bayley
WWE.com

Prediction #1: Bayley will beat Tamina to retain her SmackDown Women's Title this Sunday at MITB, and will probably survive by the skin of her teeth even though she should win decisively.

This is one of the examples referenced in the intro with the words "lazily leaned on overused tropes". Before an upcoming pay-per-view, the challenger grabs a "surprise" win over the champion and theoretically rolls into that show with momentum. The only problem is that WWE use this booking so often it's woefully ineffective.

Such writing instantly telegraphs what will happen on the pay-per-view and totally eradicates any sense of threat the challenger has; that's WWE's fault for conditioning fans so relentlessly for decades. Most watching know the result of certain bouts before they happen, especially if they analyse the build up towards them.

Tamina pinning Bayley on SmackDown means she's heading for a loss this weekend. That's just the way it works (and has always worked) in this company.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.