4 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Mar 10)

1. ARGH! Nightmare Stuff For Rhea Ripley!

Charlotte Flair Rhea Ripley
WWE.com

Fans pelted Rhea Ripley with the dreaded, "WHAT?!" chants on Friday night, and that does not bode well for her going forwards. Worse, Rhea had nothing to counter them with, because the material for her rivalry with Charlotte is especially weak. This woman won the Royal Rumble, for f*ck sake.

What is going on?

WWE's casting feels totally wrong. Ripley vs. Flair is actually coming out like a feud they're trying to make a mess of. Clearly, the writers aren't deliberately blowing this, but they're doing a rotten job with build towards the SmackDown Women's Title showdown at 'Mania 39. It doesn't come across as epic at all.

Segments involving Rhea and Charlotte have been so poor that WWE had to plonk Dominik Mysterio in there to add some heat! That says everything, and fans shouldn't expect any dramatic improvements before bell time in April.

Yuck.

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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.