Kevin Owens and Tiffany Stratton punched their tickets to WWE Money in the Bank in New Orleans on October 10th. Owens outlasted Cody Rhodes and Johnny Gargano to advance. Stratton beat Candice LeRae and Tatum Paxley for her spot.
Ricky Saints teamed with the War Raiders against Rey Fenix and Fraxiom. After months of delay, Blake Monroe finally made her WWE main-roster in-ring debut against long-time rival Giulia.
Thanks for the submission!
Sami Zayn asked for respect from his peers but was immediately met with the opposite response from several WWE stars.
Except for last week’s women’s Money in the Bank qualifier, the action has been far better over the last two shows than most of the year. Despite that, WWE made the following four mistakes on SmackDown from Denver.
#4. Giulia’s burial continues
It was a foregone conclusion that whenever Blake Monroe finally decided to make her in-ring debut, she’d beat Giulia. The two stars have feuded for months without settling it in the ring. The rivals exchanged backstage attacks.
The Beautiful Madness at least had time to shine against The Glamour. When it was all said and done, however, Giulia lost yet another big match on SmackDown. Lash Legend buried her quickly after SummerSlam.
Legend then pinned Giulia on last week’s show to advance to Money in the Bank. She could have won at least one of those matches, but Triple H opted to bury her in both.
#3. Ignoring the WWE Tag Team Champions yet again
Most episodes of RAW pass with Roman Reigns not showing up. The SmackDown equivalent seems to be the handling of the MFTs, the current WWE Tag Team Champions.
Talla and Tama Tonga won the titles last month, but fans probably forget since they usually show up in social media posts after SmackDown. It was leading to a big showdown with Shinsuke Nakamura and Kyoki, but the match ended in disqualification after Haku interfered.
The Sami Zayn segment went on longer than it needed to. WWE could have at least aired a pre-taped message from one or both sides. Instead, neither the MFTs nor Fatal Influence were featured on SmackDown.
#2. A three-minute recap of a RAW feud on SmackDown
While it was refreshing to have only one long-winded in-ring promo segment, WWE opted to air a recap of the RAW feud between the Bloodline and 946. Instead of giving time to one of the brand’s champions, the time was given to a non-title feud from RAW.
That angle dominates RAW every week, including opening and closing the show this week. Cody Rhodes and Johnny Gargano got backstage time before the main event. Kevin Owens did not.
He could have used that time for a message. Fatal Influence or the MFTs should have received time. Jacy is the Women’s United States Champion, but that’s put to the side because she qualified for Money in the Bank.
#1. Only half the Money in the Bank participants confront Sami Zayn
WWE writers opted to have Sami Zayn deal with some of the stars who qualified for Money in the Bank. Instead of having all five stars in the same ring, Je’Von Evans and Penta appeared.
Trick Williams was the last one to come out, but he’s on SmackDown. He also had a backstage segment with Cody Rhodes but didn’t do anything as United States Champion.
CM Punk and Bron Breakker, who are also in the match, didn’t appear. All of the stars should appear, or none of them should.
It also begs the question for next week’s RAW. Will the Money in the Bank competitors do the same to Roman Reigns? It probably won’t happen since he’s likely to have a promo exchange with LA Knight.
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Edited by Matthew Serocki