5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (11 Apr - Results & Review)

3. The Gauntlet’s Rough Spots

WWE handed the Gauntlet bout to establish new contenders for the Women's Tag-Team Titles a huge chunk of time on this week's show. Fair play, because it was refreshing to see acts like Maxxine Dupri and the 'Secret Her-vice' duo of Alba Fyre and Piper Niven get plenty of in-ring minutes and a little spotlight. There were some rough moments that threatened to chip away at the match though.

For starters, the Pure Fusion Collective feels totally rudderless without Sonya Deville, and it's not like they were smashing it as a trio before she was released by WWE. Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark have zero heat, so their portion of the match opposite Bayley and Lyra Valkyria played before some rather embarrassing silence. The same was true for spots involving Michin and B-FAB, and then Kayden Carter and Katana Chance.

The finish to the match was great, but it took a while to get there and the lulls were pretty painful. Here's the deal: Fans aren’t interested in some of these teams because they’ve been given no reason to be. That's something Triple H should be spotting and actively working to address. Whilst it's fair to say that not everyone can be pushed at the same time, they should be hearing something/anything from fans when they make their way to the ring.

Lyra and Bayley did everything they could think of to work through the strain, but they weren't met halfway by some of these teams. Worryingly, unlike the winners, a few of them are full-time duos and should really be further down the line than they are.