7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (20 Feb - Results & Review)

2. Kiana James Gets The Nod

Kiana James
WWE.com

What a refreshing surprise this was.

Kiana James has been super impressive alongside Giulia lately, and has actually started outshining her charge. So, it's great to see WWE give someone deserving a push into such an important match. James beating out Charlotte Flair and Nia Jax made her look big time, but it also shouldn’t be lost in the mix that Charlotte is struggling to win out on her own without Alexa Bliss around. That’s something to keep an eye on.

The announcers put a lot of shine on James hitting Jax with a Samoan Drop, which was visually impressive. That was a John Cena-esque show of power from Kiana. The only flub in this bout was James being late to kick out of a Spanish Fly from the corner; the ref stopped his count when he clearly could’ve reached the 3, but not many in the crowd seemed to really mind so it’s all good.

All 3 women got it together again in time for the creative finish: James interrupted a Figure Eight with a pinning combo for the win. That looked so slick. There you have it - a well-worked Triple Threat that saw a rising star beat out 2 established ones. It'd be hard to pick any faults in that strategy from the writers. You can’t be mad at it.

All going well, Kiana will get to eliminate somebody (maybe Alexa Bliss?) in the women's Chamber match on next weekend's PLE. Screw it, have her eliminate Asuka too just to put more spotlight on a rising star in the women's division. Another one.

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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.