5 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (May 8)

Downs...

3. The Slow Road To MITB

Charlotte Flair Peyton Royce
WWE.com

SmackDown's Money In The Bank qualifiers kicked off last night, with Peyton Royce of The IIconics facing former champion Charlotte Flair on the women's side. A match that promised much, given their respective skill and the generous 13-minute runtime, but delivered little.

Pacing was the biggest issue. The opening stages were slow, stodgy, unengaging, and more likely to lull you to sleep than fire you up. This made it tough to stay invested when the action did amp up, though the increase in tempo was only incremental. Solid, functional work? Absolutely, but there's no value in solid, functional work with no excitement.

The match wasn't horrendous, with a particularly solid closing run saving it from outright tedium. A series of big counters eventually culminated with Charlotte escaping the Fisherman's Buster, hitting a spear for two, then a roll-up into the Figure Eight for the victory. Her star power makes Flair a worthy Money In The Bank participant, but let's just hope she isn't mad enough to try one of her Moonsaults off the ladder.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.