8 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Mar 20)
7. Bank Statement
WWE
The commentators didn't quite get the wonky logic over enough as Carmella and Natalya loosely revelled in their successful scheme, but this particular cash-in tease from the 'Princess Of Staten Island' was ostensibly executed to throw Charlotte off her game and gift victory to her Canadian accomplice.
It served a greater purpose too. The ever-presence of the Money In The Bank briefcase serves as a weekly reminder of Carmella's gentle threat to 'The Queen's throne, but at no point has she ever been considered on the Champion's level. The same could be said for her standing in comparison to the next titleholder too. However here, her attempt served an intra-match purpose of rattling Flair.
Charlotte was beaten directly as a result of her rival's presence, which has to drill down into her as she tries to somehow prepare for the biggest challenge of her career at WrestleMania 34. Might another cash-in attempt come next week? Or on the go-home show? Or, god forbid, at WrestleMania itself? Flair being forced to wear her doubt will add even more layers to one of the evening's hottest matches - and cannily Carmella mightn't even have to do another thing.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
