7 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Aug 7)

1. Unity?

Charlotte Flair Becky Lynch
WWE.com

At one point last night, Becky Lynch told Charlotte Flair that they're "not like Sasha Banks and Bayley." Here's the thing, though: they are.

Their interactions were peppered throughout the show. First, Charlotte claimed she didn't mean to spoil her best friend's momentum by taking a spot in the SummerSlam Women's Title match. Lynch said she was happy for her, and the tension was brushed off ahead of their tag victory over The IIconics, then brought back to the forefront in another backstage segment that closed with a staredown.

This is Bayley and Sasha Banks to a tee, and exactly the kind of interactions the duo exchanged in their storyline's early days. That's a problem. We shan't write the angle off entirely, because it's still getting started, but it feels very much like a retread of an ongoing Raw angle. Should we really accept this from a show that regularly blows the red brand out of the water every week?

To top it all off, the Women's Title programme has shifted gears from the beloved babyface hero potentially securing her overdue glory, to that same beloved babyface hero nudging at a heel turn. A bummer by anyone's standards.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.