It seemed like it was only a matter of time before Jade Cargill betrayed Tiffany Stratton in order to set up a WWE Women’s Championship match between the pair. While it was expected to happen sooner rather than later by a large portion of WWE’s fanbase, the execution was still pretty flawless.

On an episode of “SmackDown” that wasn’t really much more than standard, this was the only interesting part of the show that actually worked to build up an ongoing storyline in my opinion. From Cargill saving Stratton from the post-match beatdown at the hands of Giulia to raising Stratton’s hand to blindsiding her with a clothesline and the beatdown that followed, it told a story within a story by highlighting just how frustrated Cargill was with being unable to dethrone Stratton as WWE Women’s Champion. In something that’s become a bit of a rarity for WWE to pull off right, the use of emotions in Cargill’s demeanor and her sending Stratton crashing into the ring steps, the announce desk and completely ignoring security guards allowed you as a viewer to put yourself in Cargill’s shoes. It was engaging to watch and the perfect cliffhanger for next week heading into the now-confirmed Saturday Night’s Main Event title match between the pair.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

Here’s the thing: with how meteorically the tensions between Drew McIntyre and Jimmy Uso have risen and the two brawls the pair found themselves involved in ahead of their match, the idea of a No Disqualification Match between them as the main event of this edition of “SmackDown” was a good one. If the effort to add the No Disqualification stipulation was going to be included in the first place though, then there should’ve been more weapons and escalating spots throughout the match.

McIntyre and Jimmy are supposed to want to brutalize each other, which was made abundantly clear by Jimmy asking “SmackDown” General Manager Nick Aldis for a fight rather than a normal match. This becomes harder to believe when said fight doesn’t include much more than the use of one single chair, a table right at the end, and a brief trip into the crowd. It didn’t feel like it was a fight at all, and completely lacked the hostility that was needed in order to make it feel important rather than boilerplate. It was a total let down for a contest that included two wrestlers who have proved to be all around good in-ring competitors, and was a lackluster way to end “SmackDown” with the post-match brawl between Cody Rhodes and McIntyre that lacked a similar hostile feel as well.

Written by Olivia Quinlan