5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (11 Sept - Results & Review)

3. Women’s Title Match Makes The Best Of It

Chelsea Green vs. Nia Jax was a nice underdog ride for the champ. The live crowd in Mexico City was firmly behind Green, even more so because of the flag-based ring attire both women wore, and Chels worked well as someone physically overmatched. It’d be lovely if WWE could move on from this quickly, unlike Trick vs. Corbin in the US Title scene, but it was perfectly fine for what it was.

This writer has to be honest about something else: The match was way better than he thought it’d be going in. That's slightly awkward after weeks of eye rolling in these pages about how Nia sucked as a challenger for Green. You've got to be able to hold your hand up when you're wrong - there was a real threat of a title change here, if only because people are waiting on Tiffany Stratton’s seemingly inevitable turn, but it’s a net positive that Green retained.

Sure, there was some spotty logic with the mask stuff (Chelsea was supposed to be in deep trouble and potentially be stripped of her belt if the mask slipped off?), and the finish wasn’t as tidy as it could’ve been, but we got there. We got there. Score this one down as a shining example of how Green prioritises character work over pure in-ring acumen. Nia's usual slow as hell beatdown work didn't feel out of place on this occasion either, which is worth saying.

These women came up with something that never dropped below watchable and was actually one of SmackDown's brightest moments. Both deserve credit for that considering the suspect build.