2 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Feb 4)

5. Yet Another Short Match

Natalya Aliyah
WWE.com

There's some belief backstage that Aliyah constantly beating Natalya will get the newbie over. That might be the case were it not for the fact that these are far-from-convincing wins. Aliyah is scraping by every single week, and that's not going to establish her as some must-see babyface fans can get behind.

Next week's "Dungeon Style" showdown will probs give her a submission victory, at least. That could be more definitive, but it's still true that this isn't pulsating TV. WWE couldn't make it more obvious that Aliyah is lucky/isn't in Nattie's league. Therefore, these wins mean little.

There's no sense of struggle against the odds either.

Worse, WWE laid out what's going to happen next - Xia Li stormed out of the women's locker room to confront Natalya backstage, which means she'll ride to Aliyah's rescue when she's getting stretched. That, dear readers, will then give Nattie an unnecessary out.

Advertisement
Contributor

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.