WWE SmackDown Live: Examining The Best and The Worst of the Brand for 2017

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Worst Match: Naomi vs. Lana, July 4

This was the strangest thing I’ve seen in a long time, and the time you’ve taken to read this sentence was longer than the entire match. Happy birthday, America!

So how did we get here? Lana had demanded to be included in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, but was denied. Instead, she attacked Naomi, then the SmackDown Women’s Champion. Naomi requested a match against Lana for the title at MITB. The request was granted, and Naomi was victorious.

A week later, Lana was granted a rematch for the title. Again, Naomi won. But video replay showed that Lana had a shoulder up during the pin, so she would be given yet another chance to become champion. And we got the match above – a whopping ten seconds that led to a submission victory.

I could see a squash match ending in a pinfall. One strong shot could easily incapacitate someone for three seconds. But a submission move so quick? It makes Lana look like a coward, and does nothing for Naomi. To waste an entire segment on a third championship match to end it this way was a bad move.

Honorable Mention: Apollo Crews vs. Dolph Ziggler, Feb. 7

Speaking of pointless builds, here’s another prime example. Apollo Crews had issues with Dolph Ziggler for taking liberties with his friend, Kalisto. So Crews finally gets a chance to face Ziggler one on one, and it ends in a minute with a surprise rollup. Ziggler flips out, beats Crews with a steel chair until Kalisto runs out for the save, then Kalisto meets the same fate.

Where did this go? A handicap match at Elimination Chamber, with two faces – Crews and Kalisto – ganging up on the heel – Ziggler – and everyone even forgetting this happened until you just read it here.