8 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (10 Sept)
2. No Fire, No Desire
WWE.com
A stinking turd of a promo to set up an only-slightly-less odorous match, Mandy Rose's verbal takedown of Nikki Cross was, again, an infuriating case of talented women being scripted by utterly talentless men.
In the previous segment, did The Miz want a piece of Andrade because Andrade's a piece? If he did, it certainly didn't come up in conversation. Just like how Sami Zayn didn't have a stab at The Undertaker's age as Cross' partner Mickie James did during one of their storylines.
These double standards will not do, especially considering the quality of the wrestlers being underserved here. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross have been tasked with restoring credibility to the Tag Team Titles, whilst Fire & Desire are comfortably the best set of challengers for said gold. But "YOU'LL NEVER LOOK LIKE ME, LOL" is what matters more to these athletes, because that's what some d*ckhead writer will always think.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 almost 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 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL 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
