3 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (17 May - Results & Review)

2. The Excuse Was RIGHT THERE!

Bianca Belair Tiffany Stratton
WWE.com

Bianca Belair vs. Tiffany Stratton is a match WWE will come back to in the future, and the opener was a much better showing than Nia vs. Jade from the prior entry. Sadly, it's a bit of a downer to see Stratton get ousted from the brackets considering how handy becoming Queen Of The Ring might've been to her cause.

Is it disastrous? No, but Bianca Belair's knee injury was right there! The 'EST' even spoke about her pain post-match, so it's amazing that WWE didn't have Tiff blow out Bianca's wheel and march on with an evil smirk. That seemed like the easiest play, especially when it became part of the story anyway.

Oh well.

This match almost scored an 'Up' because twin performances from Belair and Stratton were so strong and they did exhibit bags of chemistry. That wasn't enough in the end; Tiffany moving on by beating someone the standing of Bianca would've been huge for her, so this was an opportunity wasted.

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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.