WWE: The IIconics are quietly an integral part of SmackDown Live
Though the IIconics have never been title contenders and rarely win, the have quietly been a cornerstone of WWE SmackDown Live since being called up the main roster. An examination of their role on the program demonstrates their influence in helping the division’s other stars find their roles.
Peyton Royce has won just one singles match on the WWE main roster since being called up during the Superstar Shakeup, and her life partner, Billie Kay, has been similarly unsuccessful in one-on-one competition, with her sole main roster win also coming against Naomi.
However, while the wins haven’t come during the IIconics’ first eight months on SmackDown Live, they have made a profound impact on the show in other ways. It is apparent that despite the IIconics frequent losses, WWE has high hopes for the duo, given that Royce and Kay always have microphones in their hands when they make an entrance, annoying the crowd at a “Lio Rush level” with their childish insults of the SmackDown roster’s babyfaces.
Although the IIconics help the babyfaces on the roster – such as Naomi and, previously, Becky Lynch – gain more sympathy from the fans with their callous (and often factually inaccurate) disses, they elevate others on the roster by taking losses that provide a springboard for the victors.
For example, when Becky was being built up for a future SmackDown Women’s Championship opportunity at SummerSlam, who did she defeat repeatedly to start gaining more momentum? The IIconics. (Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville definitely deserve shoutouts – and their own pieces – too.)
When Naomi needed to be paired up with a tag team partner, she was initially in a program with the IIconics, losing to both Kay and Royce in singles matches due to the numbers advantage that the IIconics held.
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In order to defeat them, Naomi had to find a tag team partner who would gel with her, because only a strong partnership would be able to overcome the innate chemistry that Royce and Kay have together.
And that’s exactly what Naomi and Asuka have accomplished, en route to becoming one of WWE’s most exciting tag teams following their underrated rivalry with the IIconics.
Charlotte Flair’s post-WrestleMania 34 story has been tightly linked to the IIconics, even if her rivalry with Becky Lynch has been the defining feud in wrestling this year (and no, it’s not Nick Aldis vs. Cody Rhodes). But Charlotte first lost her SmackDown Women’s Title to Carmella as a result of an attack from the IIconics, who used this beatdown of “The Queen” to reason that they could defeat Charlotte and, by extension, Asuka in singles matches.
That didn’t work out for them, but it did give the IIconics some more promo fodder, though with their quick wit and outrageous impressions, they’ve never necessarily needed more material.
In any case, Charlotte got her revenge on the IIconics shortly after that attack, but the IIconics impacted Charlotte’s character in an even stronger way earlier this month.
Following her post-match attack on Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series, Charlotte started to unveil a gray-area, bad-ass babyface (which critics – and Lynch herself – refer to as a “Bootleg Becky”) character. That shift in Charlotte’s disposition was solidified with her matches against Royce and Kay. She called both women out, defeated Kay, and then came close to defeating Royce before Kay interfered on behalf of her life partner (so Charlotte technically still won, albeit by DQ).
A common thread here is that whether it is Charlotte, Becky, or Naomi and Asuka, SmackDown Live’s most important superstars, specifically the babyfaces, have risen because of the IIconics.
Becky wouldn’t have been positioned as a No. 1 contender in the summer without her matches against the IIconics, Asuka and Naomi wouldn’t have been entrenched as a prospering tag team (fingers crossed for the Women’s Tag Titles debuting and not becoming the WWE’s version of “Detox”), and Charlotte wouldn’t have been able to cop Becky’s style without beating up on the IIconics first.
All of this works because the IIconics are effective heels. Every time they speak, people wrinkle their noses in disgust at their snide remarks. Kay and Royce walk around pompously as if they are better than everyone else in the division, even though their only wins have come from blatant cheating. In pro wrestling, an effective heel is a selfless member of the show, making a mockery of themselves in order to boost others, even if they consistently fail to win.
The IIconics, however, are respected by fans who truly understand their talents and have watched Kay and Royce since NXT. They understand that the IIconics are among the favorites to win the Women’s Tag Team Championships, especially since they could elevate another tag team, specifically Sasha Banks and Bayley on Raw, in the same way that they’ve boosted others.
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The SmackDown Women’s Division is the best thing going in WWE right now, and if you took out Royce and Kay, this division just wouldn’t be the same. They are the keystone of this division, showing up on television week-in and week-out, steadily improving in the ring, and doing whatever they can to help improve the overall trajectory of their division and show as a whole.
They will get their chance at a major victory one day, but, until then, they’ll be busy impressing the fans who have paid attention to their hard work on SmackDown Live.