WWE: SmackDown Live Shows Mixed-Match Segments Deserve More Airtime
WWE SmackDown Live is widely regarded as the best of the company’s main roster shows, and the excitement surrounding its feuds at Hell in a Cell reflect this prevailing belief. What also sets SmackDown Live apart from Raw, in addition to its well-written rivalries that are easy to understand, is the show’s willingness to allow female and male talent to interact with each other in a meaningful way.
Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan, The Miz and Maryse, Carmella and R-Truth, Lana and Rusev, and Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega are five on-screen pairings that have been prominently featured on WWE SmackDown Live over the past several weeks. We have seen (or will see) mixed tag matches involving nearly all of these wrestlers, and the interactions between the men and women on SmackDown have greatly enriched each of these rivalries.
Take the program between Bryan and The Miz as an example. These two wrestlers cannot stand each other, and tensions have boiled between them from the day Bryan stepped foot in the WWE. That animosity reached a breaking point two years ago on Talking Smack, and when Bryan made his way back to the ring, it didn’t take long for The Miz to target him.
At Hell in a Cell, The Miz and Maryse will team up to take on Bryan and his real-life wife Brie Bella. This match represents an important change-of-pace, because it’s allowed Bryan and Miz to keep building their rivalry without figuratively “burning” another singles match. Furthermore, Brie and Maryse have been tremendous over the past few weeks, as they have made this feud seem even more personal.
When Brie finally punched Miz in the face on Tuesday night, you could sense just how big of a moment that was in this rivalry, and it’s an action that I doubt Maryse will let Brie forget on Sunday at Hell in a Cell.
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Some WWE fans look back on the Attitude Era fondly, and one of the most mixed aspects of the Attitude Era were the interactions between men and women on the show. On the one hand, it was great to see women involved in heavily promoted storylines, but on the other hand, they were often degraded in the process or portrayed as being petty individuals with little more than a high school-level agenda.
SmackDown Live isn’t just getting women more involved in its biggest storylines in the “men’s” division, but it’s also portraying the women as characters who aren’t just there as ways to add faux romance (see the failed Enzo Amore and Nia Jax “story” as a recent example, or the stupid Braun Strowman/Alexa Bliss angle).
Zelina Vega, as an example, is the true mastermind behind her tandem with Andrade “Cien” Almas, who wouldn’t be able to market himself or create meaningful opportunities without Vega’s cunning and silver tongue.
Even real-life couples like Miz/Maryse, Lana/Rusev, and Brie/Bryan show affection for each other in a way that solidifies themselves as a cohesive “team” from a competitive standpoint, so their relationships are used to further storylines instead of cheap ways to create romantic “angles” (such as the abhorrent Dolph Ziggler/Lana/Rusev/Summer Rae storyline from years back).
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“The Blue Brand” has created a show where men and women are advancing each other’s storylines, supporting each other in the ring, and creating more compelling television. As always, Miz and Maryse are money together, and the same goes for Vega and Almas.
How about the new pairing of Carmella and R-Truth? Even though Truth lost the match, it was still cool to see Mella, who may be turning babyface, trying to help him out. Their entrance together screams “Money”, and the way they have helped each other become major players on SmackDown Live is wonderful. Carmella is still an important part of the show even after losing the SmackDown Women’s Championship, and Truth has found his footing on WWE programming again.
Even the way Paige interacts with the male talent is an excellent aspect of the show, and it only makes us respect her more as the show’s General Manager. Paige is likely the best GM in WWE right now, and it has everything to do with the way she manages the talent.
Her back-and-forth conversations with The Miz are candid and entertaining. The Miz likes to manipulate authority to his advantage, but Paige knows just how to shut him down, even threatening to fire him when he tried to avoid a match.
Plus, the way she fired James Ellsworth was easily the most memorable moment of Ellsworth’s second stint with WWE.
There are so many examples of how the men and women of SmackDown Live have improved this show just by being allowed to compete in matches together or riff off of each other in promos. I, for one, can’t wait to see how the Truth/Carmella storyline evolves through the Mixed Match Challenge and how Almas and Vega climb up the ladder on Tuesday nights.
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This show is smartly-written, and the way they mix together male and female wrestlers in a sensible manner has helped separate SmackDown from just about every other weekly wrestling show. It would be wise for shows like Raw to follow suit, though it is important to emphasize that these interactions must occur organically. Bliss flirting with Strowman and Elias isn’t as tasteful as, say, Truth and Carmella helping each other reach the main event of the program.