7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (5 June - Results & Review)

Downs...

4. So Is Blake Monroe The New Emmalina?

Blake Monroe
WWE.com

At this rate, yours truly is expecting Blake Monroe to debut properly and say she's actually Mariah May before vanishing again. OK, not quite, but how many more “Coming Soon” vignettes can we get here? Blake actually debuted in a nothing backstage segment with Chelsea Green a few weeks ago, and yet here we are rinse and repeating on these promos.

This time, Monroe cast her gaze on Tiffany Stratton, so it's pretty clear that she's coming for the Women's United States Title someday. Just get it moving, WWE. Why the hold up?! Blake has gone from tearing it up on NXT to sitting in catering before episodes of SmackDown, and that sucks to see. "Coming Soon" implies actual planning, but that aforementioned skit with Green suggests things are all over the place creatively.

On the plus side (weird thing to say for a 'Down', to be fair), Blake is nailing the cadence of her promos. So, she's holding up her end of the bargain. Now, it's high time Triple H and the SmackDown creative team did the same. They need to meet her halfway and bolster fresh talent rather than turning her into a meme amongst fans.

Y'know, like Emma/Emmalina became.

This is a rough start for Monroe on the main roster, and it's just so avoidable. Run these vignettes all you like, but don't splice them in with backstage segments that frankly go nowhere. Having Blake pollute the possible friendship between Chelsea and Stratton is a solid idea, but yeah...move it along.

Advertisement
Contributor

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.