5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Feb 10)

3. Hopefully This Ends Well, But…

Natalya Ronda Rousey Shayna Baszler
WWE.com

...there are concerns.

Natalya and Shayna Baszler jawing off with one another played before near-total silence from the live crowd in Connecticut. That's what happens when companies don't heat characters (or, worse, let them go ice cold over a period of months), WWE. Those fans can't be blamed for sitting on their hands.

Ronda Rousey returning out of the blue helped, but who's really excited for Rousey and Baszler vs. Nattie and Shotzi next week? It's such an uninspiring match, one not helped by the fact the latter duo haven't even been interacting on TV. They're just another thrown-together female tag.

Everyone saw Ronda and Shayna slapping Natalya about rather than fighting themselves too. Gah, who knows - maybe this will all be worth it when the MMA duo go wild on the tag ranks proper. This writer has genuine worries about that deathly silence though.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.