5 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (23 Oct - Results & Review)

2. A Fine Women’s Title Bout

Both top 'Ups' involve the women's division.

Chelsea Green defending her gold vs. Roxanne Perez was a fun watch. It’s obvious that Roxanne is ready to break out of Judgment Day’s shadow and stand on her own merits, but we’ll get there. Chelsea was excellent when fighting from underneath then capitalising on the way interference from Raquel Rodriguez and IYO SKY around ringside distracted Perez too.

This was a really tidy match from start to finish, and it'll be internally viewed as a nice title defence for Green. It's the kind of defence she needed to establish herself as a key figurehead in the division. Anyone who previously thought Chelsea was all character and no in-ring sizzle should study what she did vs. Perez.

Green doesn't need to dominate matches or 'get her s*** in' to be a star. In fact, she's much better when she's letting heels take the lead to show what they can do, whilst cherry picking some of her own spots that get a cheer out of the crowd. There's nothing wrong with Chels being an in-ring underdog against workers like Roxanne.

Nothing at all.

It'd be a surprise if Green vs. Nikki Bella matched what we got here when they clash. Perez looked like a million bucks at Money In The Bank (fittingly), and she's developing a sneaky ring general vibe to her work that's certainly worth talking about. Despite this loss, Roxanne can be real proud of how she's progressing.

Green vs. Perez wasn't the best match on the show though, which is saying something.