6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (11 Oct - Results & Review)

3. A Senseless Raw Angle On SmackDown

Rhea Ripley
WWE.com

This writer loves him some Rhea Ripley content, but keep this Judgment Day stuff over on Raw guys.

Rhea taking everyone out only heightened the flaws in Liv vs. Nia and this Crown Jewel Championship business no-one is particularly interested in. 'Mami' dominated everyone on SmackDown, which kinda neuters Nia's bragging about being the alpha female on Friday nights. It's hard to see how any of this crossover is helping.

Look, this probably has something to do with Raw dropping to two hours. Maybe Triple H thinks he has no choice but to bring some flagship action to Fridays. He does have a choice. It shouldn't be happening unless there's something vital going on like there is with The Bloodline story. Sadly, Rhea's run in felt senseless.

This easily could've been held back for Monday's coming episode without anyone noticing. This sucks to say, but Ripley didn't need to be on SmackDown at all - that's true even with Morgan, Mysterio and Rodriguez getting in Nia's face to sell the crummy Crown Jewel match.

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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.