4 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Oct 24)
Downs...
3. Here We Go Again
This week's cut and paste SmackDown women's match saw Charlotte Flair, Tamina, Carmella, Naomi, and Becky Lynch compete in a Fatal 5-Way, but with a slight twist: the winner would captain the blue brand's Survivor Series team on November 19th.
These stakes gave the bout a little extra zest. Otherwise, it was a worthless contest. The action was fine, and there were no obvious mistakes, but the way SmackDown's writers continue to book their women's division remains a massive bugbear. Every week we get a slight variation of the same multi-person match, and it's precisely why none of them are over anymore, particularly the likes of Charlotte and Becky.
Lynch took the victory by submitting Carmella, which was probably the right decision, as no one has been as marginalised as the 'Lass Kicker' in 2017. Still, it was another throwaway bout that succeeded only in getting five people on television at the same time, and with Survivor Series right around the corner, we can probably expect this to continue over the coming weeks.