5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Sept 11)

2. That Throwaway Fatal-4-Way

Nikki Cross
WWE.com

Admittedly, WWE do need to give Bayley something to do in the interim whilst Sasha Banks recovers from her kayfabe injuries, and they do seem to have a pay-per-view every weekend in 2020. It wasn't the worst plan to book a quick Fatal-4-Way to determine her next challenger then.

It's just a shame Nikki Cross literally just wrestled Bayley at Extreme Rules in July.

OK, so that'll be three pay-per-views ago by the time Clash Of Champions happens on 27 September, but it still feels too soon to book a rematch and expect anybody to believe that Cross has a hope in hell. She's busy with Alexa Bliss, and Sasha is the only woman who's taking that SmackDown Women's Title away from Bayley.

Bayley vs. Cross II is the kind of solid attraction you'd expect to see lumped onto regular TV - it doesn't seem grand enough for pay-per-view. WWE are in a tough spot here, but they had the chance to something interesting like they did with the Universal Title scene and...didn't.

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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.