The Curse of The SmackDown Women's Title

[Grievous 3D]

So...I like SmackDown...and after Charlotte was drafted I
like SmackDown even more...and I'm also looking forward
to seeing the day when Charlotte claims the blue women's
title.

But...may-be it isn't worth it?

No...seriously...hear me out on this one.

So...the SmackDown women's title was introduced at Backlash
last year and was won by Becky Lynch in a fantastic 6 pack
elimination challenge match.

I know originally many people were shocked Nikki Bella didn't
win...but Becky claimed the belt and she truly did deserve it.

But...straight away "the curse" began to effect the Irish lass
kicker.

Becky began a feud with NXT call up and all round nasty bitch
Alexa Bliss...and Becky was booked to look like an absolute
chump. Alexa was attacking or pinning her every week and Becky
did nothing to retaliate. Then it came time for her first title
defense at No Mercy...and Becky missed the PPV because of an
illness/injury. She was then out for 3 weeks and upon returning
was once again attacked by Alexa and left laying as her back
was spray painted yellow.

Again...Becky did not retaliate.

So finally the match was booked for SmackDown in Glasgow and
Becky won...with Alexa's foot on the ropes.

So its an "unclean" win and Alexa demands a rematch...which she
will eventually get.

Survivor Series is next...and Nikki Bella is named team captain
for the SmackDown women's team. WTF?!

Of course it wouldn't matter because Nikki wouldn't wrestle that
night and Natalya would take her place.

Becky would be the final member of the SmackDown team remaining
and did eliminate Nia Jax during the match...but she would be pinned
by Bayley after a (fucking stupid) Bayley-to-Belly suplex.

(I honestly can't express how much I hate Bayley's "finisher")

Now we roll around to TLC and a tables match with Alexa...and much
to the surprise of everyone...Alexa puts Becky through a table and
wins the title.

So...Becky had the belt for 85 days...had no clean title defenses
in that time and was basically booked as a stupid babyface who was
repeatedly abused, attacked and pinned nearly every week.

Great...

Now...Alexa Bliss suffered somewhat of the same fate that Becky did.
Once Alexa won the title...she turned into a coward who couldn't win
a match without any outside help.

I'm not going over every detail...but her first reign lasted for 70
days with no clean title defenses with Naomi basically dancing circles
around her towards the end of her reign.

Naomi is up next...and if you needed proof this title is cursed...this
is it. So Naomi wins the title at Elimination Chamber...but in winning
the title injures herself to the point she has to vacate the title 9
days later.

Wow...talk about bad luck...

So...she vacates the title and Alexa & Becky have a match on SmackDown
to decide who will be the new champion...and finally Alexa defeats Becky
cleanly in a standard match and to win the belt for a second time.

Of course your definition of clean may vary...but she had no outside
help from Mickie James and a shot to the throat is legal in my book.

So Alexa is on her second reign...and it means nothing. She is simply
holding onto the title until Wrestlemania so Naomi can win it back. No
title defenses...just the same old coward heel champion Alexa we've seen
and frankly they should have had Natalya hold the belt for the 40 days
till Wrestlemania.

So...Wrestlemania 33 arrives and its a 6 pack challenge (first pinfall
or submission wins the belt) and the entire division is fucked over by
only getting 5 minutes and 30 seconds of actual match time. WTF?!

Of course home town hero Naomi wins the belt back by making Alexa
tap out like a crying little bitch. They may as well have had Alexa simply
hand the the title over to Naomi in a backstage segment.

2 nights later Alexa would invoke her rematch clause...and Naomi would
again end up making Alexa tap out screaming like a scared 10 year old.

Its interesting to note that this match between Naomi & Alexa was the
first cleanly won title defense in the title's history.

It took 205 days for this belt to have a cleanly won (televised) title defense.

Holy shit...that is some insane booking. Are the SmackDown writers even
aware of this?

So now Naomi is the champion and the superstar shake-up brought my
favorite WWE performer/wrestler Charlotte to SmackDown. Now hopefully
this feud will allow both women to look good and...

Too late...Charlotte defeated Naomi cleanly to earn a shot at the title
and then said title match ended in a no contest.

For the love of sunflowers & jelly beans...can we just have a strongly
booked women's champion on SmackDown for a 3 or 4 months? is that
too much to ask for?

Seriously...that belt is cursed! Charlotte my Bae...it isn't worth it!

What do you think? Has a curse been placed upon the SmackDown women's title?

Your votes, thoughts and opinions are always welcome...and I'll see you
all around the traps.

 

[Solidus1]

I don't even like the SD women's roster any more. Charlotte is obviously the greatest female wrestler, but I just don't care for the others on the blue brand. Naomi...meh. Natalya is boring, Carmella is useless, Becky is also boring. Who else is there again?
Charlotte should dominate the roster, but that's like being a shark in a fish tank.

 

[Solidus1]

Oh yeah, Nikki. She's decent I guess, but lost a lot of momentum.

 

[Grievous 3D]

I don't even like the SD women's roster any more.

:

Charlotte is obviously the greatest female wrestler

Of course...

Naomi...meh

I think the WWE hasn't done her any favors...and well...she can fly around
the ring like no one else in the entire division...and she can dance.

Natalya is boring

Again...I think her past booking has really hurt her. I honestly think
Nattie has one great run in her...she just needs the right story.

Carmella is useless

Yeah...the SmackDown creative team has basically destroyed Carmella...
she should have originally been drafted to RAW to be with Enzo & Cass.

Becky is also boring

I think a heel turn would really help Becky at this point...let her be
the "Neville" of the women's division.

I've never found Becky boring...frankly...she's the most likeable performer
on the entire roster in my opinion...and there is the biggest problem...would
she actually work as a heel?

Oh yeah, Nikki. She's decent I guess, but lost a lot of momentum.

A neck injury will do that to anyone...hopefully she will be back (and front)
sooner rather than later...

Charlotte should dominate the roster, but that's like being a shark in a fish tank.

Look...I adore Charlotte...but both Becky & Natalya should not be
underestimated...

 

[RedDwarfTechy]

I don't even like the SD women's roster any more. Charlotte is obviously the greatest female wrestler, but I just don't care for the others on the blue brand. Naomi...meh. Natalya is boring, Carmella is useless, Becky is also boring. Who else is there again?
Charlotte should dominate the roster, but that's like being a shark in a fish tank.

Pretty much this.

That said, I think Charlotte had the same issue with the Raw belt. I mean she'd have a near MOTN or even MOTN and then end up losing it on Raw. I mean she was a terribly booked champion with that hot potato belt.

Maybe both curses will sort of cancel each other out, but yeah, till Asuka comes up, or Becky vs Charlotte happens, that division is meh. Purely because Charlotte is better than the rest. And the rest bore me.

Nice thread!

 

[Grievous 3D]

till Asuka comes up, or Becky vs Charlotte happens, that division is meh.

:

Purely because Charlotte is better than the rest.

Well...yes she is...

but the talent gap isn't that wide is it?

And the rest bore me.

Really? You find Becky Lynch boring?
Damn...Becky is anything but boring to me.

Nice thread!

Thank you RDT...

 

[RedDwarfTechy]

:

Well...yes she is...

but the talent gap isn't that wide is it?

Really? You find Becky Lynch boring?
Damn...Becky is anything but boring to me.

Thank you RDT...

No, I mean other than Charlotte and Becky, rest are boring.

 

[Grievous 3D]

No, I mean other than Charlotte and Becky, rest are boring.

Oh...well...good...Becky is awesome!...but yeah...I can see your point...

The "other" women just need some more character development and some
better stories to work with...

And for Jimmy No Chin to piss off...

 

[Rosie]

I think it is more a victim of the 50/50 booking for WWE when it comes to losses. Since the logic is Heel Champion? Lose on free-TV to cheat to retain their title! Face champion? Lose a lot and come from behind like a proper underdog! This isn't a bad story to tell once in a while, but when almost every champion in your company is booked like it then it becomes a problem.

As for injuries, they always happen, and a Champion is often wrestling a lot if their names aren't Goldberg or Brock Lesnar, so they are likely to get hurt in some way.

So no Voodoo, just bad luck/repetitive booking.

 

[Mustafar Reginald]

I wasn't really paying much attention during Becky's reign (nothing against her personally, it just took awhile for me to really get back into wrestling after a two and a half year break, I only checked a few clips on youtube of the shows) but that booking does sound pretty bad. I didn't really mind Alexa's reign, I kinda assumed she always filled the coward champion role so it's a little upsetting to hear that that character trait was seemingly developed during his championship reign. I also didn't mind that Naomi basically trounced her every week before winning the championship, since it's one of the rare examples of WWE not going through with 50/50 booking. Naomi's consistently been booked over Alexa too, she (with Natalya's help) eliminated Bliss in that six-pack elimination match that determined the inaugural champion. I think it's kinda neat that the established a pecking order and managed to maintain it, albeit that doesn't necessarily equate to an engaging feud and from what I seen they didn't really incorporate that into the angle.

That said, everything from Elimination Chamber to Mania was completely pointless and Naomi's win felt like it came solely because WrestleMania was in her hometown. Naomi's injury was certainly an unfortunate circumstance, but I really wish they just kept the Championship on her rather than just bringing up that 30 day clause, right before Lesnar wins the Universal Championship and pisses off until July, effectively resetting the division to pre-Elimination Chamber. It's clear from their phrasing "Alexa Bliss defends her title against every available women on the Smackdown roster" that they were uncertain if Naomi would return in time but hoping for the best (also, just realized the parallel with Naomi on Smackdown & Rollins on Raw, kinda weird that both brands would be placed in practically the same predicament). However her just winning it back made it pretty clear that they just wanted that moment because Naomi came from Florida and basically her winning it back had zero impact for me (and that extended dance victory sequence honestly soured me a bit on a wrestler that I've been advocating for since NXT the reality years).

Regardless, they had to give it back to Alexa. She's the biggest heel of that division and the one whose story was most intertwined with Naomi getting her moment. I wouldn't have liked Natalya to receive a simple paper reign as champion, she deserves better than winning in the interim between Naomi injuries. So does Alexa, but their rivalry between the two was previously established, and considering Bliss was the one who advocated the most strongly for the title vacation, it only makes sense that Naomi returns, beats her specifically, to win the championship back and tying the two time record. It basically killed any investment I had in the division, but I think if they were dead-set on giving Naomi her WrestleMania moment, they went about it as well as they could've in the circumstance.

I'm anticipating Charlotte's going to be far better treated whenever she eventually holds the Championship anyway. Smackdown's writers don't seem to emphasize moments as much as Raw's writers do so it's unlikely that will see anything resembling the hot potato'in that happened over there. Her main eventing Smackdown recently and the announcers constantly referring to her as the biggest 'get' in the Super Shake Up (& I agree there, for what it's worth) demonstrates how much they value her.

 

[Tom Colohue]

I think there's a few things there that you're looking at in a very unflattering light, but let me share my opinion.

Becky Lynch only won the title to establish her as the Smackdown women's champion. Note that I don't mean the titleholder. She is still the champion of that division right now in that she is the one that the fans consider the core of the unit. Yes, she did sell heavily for Alexa Bliss after winning the title but if you look at how popular Alexa Bliss has become because of this it was the right move. Becky is no less popular now because of many wins in that time, over Mickie James (repeatedly) and over Alexa Bliss (she made Bliss tap out time and time again). The title did not devalue Becky Lynch at all and given that being a bit gullible is part of her character, it works.

You say Alexa Bliss turned into a coward who couldn't win a match after winning the title. That's just plain wrong. Alexa Bliss, since day one, was always booked as an opportunist heel. Her very first match was an opportunistic choice because she took Eva Marie's place. She won the #1 contendership by pinning Nikki Bella after Carmella had knocked her out, just as she did with Banks and Jax. She has always been booked in the exact same way and this consistency has made her the star that she is right now.

Now with Naomi there is no curse in action. She's not a draw. She's winning more now than she ever has before as champion and that's because she is and always has been a jobber in the women's division. They're right now trying to make something of her but there's a long way to go. We're undoubtedly going to see a lot of effort put into that over the coming weeks

 

[Jacob Fox]

You have an active imagination

 

[Grievous 3D]

You have an active imagination

Who...me?

 

[Eva Maryse]

The potential of the division died in the ass when HHH started to megapush Alexa and just had her steamroll Becky.

Beckys win had been built up to over a year or so with her being screwed over so much, then when she finally wins the Title nothing changes, she's still just the same idiot loser who gets screwed over endlessly and Alexa's booked as if she's Nia Jax or something.

Im not fussed about clean/dirty wins, heels cheat, its what they do. Only issue was Becky beating Bliss dirty when Beckys the face...HHH protecting his NXT projects logic.

 

[Tom Colohue]

By that logic he's protecting both of them.