7 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Oct 13 - Results & Review)

Downs...

3. Honestly? A Little Rough!

Bayley Zelina Vega
WWE.com

Zelina Vega and Bayley tried, but a lot of their exchanges looked rather soft. Vega's Rey Mysterio tributes, for example, just didn't land with any force, and that made it hard to invest in this match. Worse, the whole thing lasted just shy of three minutes, so it was nigh-on impossible for these women to build any tension.

Yours truly liked the story of IYO SKY returning the Fastlane favour by helping her Damage CTRL stablemate win, but that wasn't quite enough to grab this bout an 'Up'. WWE might want to have a rethink about how they're framing some on the female side at the moment - most non-title scenarios feel awfully unimportant.

That's a bummer.

Vega seemed to be on the cusp of a strong underdog babyface character following her well-received match earlier in the year vs. Rhea Ripley. As things stand, that feels like a lifetime ago. Zelina didn't do her cause any favours on Friday night, unfortunately.

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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.