4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (April 15)

2. What Was This?!

Raquel Rodriguez Natalya
WWE

The renamed Raquel Rodriguez is already struggling to make a decent first impression on WWE's main roster. An ex-NXT mauler like Raquel should be tearing through opponents and showing what she can do in-ring, but no - she's appearing in nondescript backstage segments instead.

Yay.

This week, Natalya was bitching about all the new faces popping up on SmackDown to Shayna Baszler. Then, Nattie very loudly wondered about Rodriguez and asked Shayna who the hell she even is. Raquel, who was sitting right behind them, stood up and introduced herself with a smile.

This entire scenario was implausible and so fake it hurt. After watching it, yours truly has zero clue who it was supposed to help. Natalya churned through weak material, then Rodriguez grinned like a goof at being insulted. Wow, this was bad.

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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.