5 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Nov 21)
Ups...
5. A Division In Disarray
Last night's SmackDown Women's Championship rematch between Charlotte Flair and Natalya wasn't a classic, but it didn't need to be.
The two went 50/50 for much of the curtailed seven minute runtime, with the champion finally seizing control towards the end, forcing Nattie to flee after a big spear. This prompted the debuting NXT trio to rush out from the back. They attacked the challenger to prompt a disqualification, then turned the crosshairs on Charlotte, with the closing shot a carbon copy of what we saw on Raw.
While the repetition is disappointing, it's impossible to deny this segment's effectiveness. The DQ finish keeps the Charlotte/Nattie feud alive, and there's no stronger way to debut than by attacking the champion and her closest challenger, so it succeeded on both levels.
The Raw and SmackDown women's divisions are opening up. There are now 20 women competing full-time on the main roster, and while the company have continually struggled to promote multiple division-specific programs since the 2016 draft, the recent additions should facilitate this.