4 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Sept 18)

4. Selling (But Only For Two Seconds)

Lacey Evans Nikki Cross
WWE.com

Consistency is everything when it comes to referees. That's true in real-life sports and it's true in pro wrestling if companies expect fans to take their authority seriously. On SmackDown, the official must've been blinded by the same hand sanitiser that was supposed to take Nikki's sight.

Why wasn't that spot an automatic disqualification?

Lacey Evans squirted sanitiser into her opponent's eyes and tried to illegally gain the upper hand. Instead of doing anything about it though, the ref just sorta' let it slide. Then, to make matters even worse, Cross barely sold the facial attack. Maybe she had a brain fart and thought she was working for AEW or something.

Due to the lack of proper refereeing and any selling from Nikki, Lacey's spot looked useless. This isn't something she should do again if nobody is going to take it seriously. That stuff stings, but you wouldn't know it from watching SmackDown.

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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.