8 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (June 5)

6. Mixed Tag Delivers

Jimmy Uso Lana
WWE.com

Is it time to rethink the "Lana is a bad wrestler" narrative?

She isn't great, but 'The Ravishing Russian' looks increasingly competent. She can hang, basically. Last night's exchanges with Naomi in their mixed tag with Jimmy Uso and Aiden English were fine, and while she'll probably never be Sasha Banks or Becky Lynch between the ropes, her improvement is there to see.

To top it off, Lana is over as hell, and now a vital component of the Rusev Day act. Naomi and Jimmy were supposed to be the faces, but the crowd couldn't have cared less about them from the moment English introduced his partner. They lost, but they felt like the bigger stars, even if Naomi and Uso are objectively better wrestlers.

WWE's adoption of the mixed tag format has created some fun pairings. It likely peaked with Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania, and while we'll never see straight-up intergender wrestling in WWE (for better or worse), these combinations still feel refreshing.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.