6 Ups And 3 Downs From WWE Survivor Series WarGames

1. Bowling Shoe Ugly

Woof.

What else can you say about the SmackDown Women’s Championship match? It certainly shouldn’t have been on a PLE, and it shouldn’t have been as “competitive” as it was.

That’s not to say Shotzi shouldn’t have gotten any offense, but they tried to make her look like a threat by having Ronda Rousey grossly underestimate and toy with her, allowing the upstart to control parts of the match. The problem is, those parts were bad. Really bad. And Rousey in control wasn’t much better.

Even the big spot of the match – Shotzi diving off the barricade into the crowd to wipe out Rousey and Shayna Baszler (and a couple of “fans”) – was cringy because 20 seconds after Shotzi collected Ronda and returned her to the ring, Rousey locked in an armbar and won. It made the big dive look to be nothing more than a spot to pop the crowd, and then Ronda woke up and put her away.

It's so strange that WWE can’t seem to replicate the recipe for Rousey’s last run, but it seems like they’re forcing her to fit more into their house style, which has homogenized a truly unique talent, thus making her far less interesting. Shotzi wasn’t the right opponent, and her hesitant, lack-of-urgency offense didn’t click.

Just a bad, bad match all around. The fans agreed, chanting, “We want Sasha!” since many were convinced that Banks would return in her hometown. Sadly, that wasn’t to be.