WWE SmackDown Smacks and Downs: The ladder climb to unemployment

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1251318636473651202

Smack: a swerve that worked, and Sonya Deville really is the “Fire”

(One of the writers who was released Wednesday, Andrea Listenberger, was integral to the Otis-Mandy Rose story. I want to thank her for her contributions these past few months.)

I’ll admit, I thought we were headed down another (probably terrible) lesbian love story between Deville and Mandy Rose. I mean, it was intimated as much over the past year. After the whole Lana-Liv Morgan debacle (and lack of recognition of Jake Atlas’ identity and goals), I was ready to roll my eyes and give this a big “down.”

Then Deville figuratively broke my ankles.

Deville started out sad, emotional, and a wreck, discussing how Rose hasn’t responded to her texts or calls for two weeks; who can blame Rose, really? She pleaded with Rose to come out so she could explain her actions.

Rose appeared and promptly told Deville she didn’t want to hear anything. Deville turned it on her by saying Rose would be throwing away five years of friendship without letting her explain. She told Rose, “You’re the most…” and this is where I thought she was going to say, “…special person I’ve ever met,” or something.

Instead, she turned her facial expression on a dime and said, “…selfish human being I’ve ever met in my entire life.”

She proceeded to lay out legitimate issues on why she would think of Rose as so selfish. They teamed together for five years, but it was Rose who had the magazine covers, Rose who had the more high-profile matches. They entered to Rose’s music only to have Deville’s face blurred out by the softcore porn entrance.

Deville said it was when Rose showed her interest in Otis that she knew she was just second fiddle to “a dime a dozen bottled blonde who looks like she was created in a lab” with “no talent.” She wants to hurt Rose, ruin her life, and show everyone that “Fire” was the real star of Fire & Desire, “An actual fighter, not some centerfold bitch.”

Whew! It really is all on the table now.

Deville, in particular, did very well tonight, as did Rose. When a heel has justifiable reasons for their actions, we as fans are torn because we can understand their anguish, their desires while also hating them for their tactics. Surely there were better, less destructive options available (like talking), right?

While telling Rose (almost in pity) that Dolph Ziggler actually cares about her, Deville said the ultimate goal was to have Rose focus on winning the Women’s Tag Team Championship with her. Again, there was probably an easier option, but in kayfabe, it works. After all, as a team, their ultimate goal should be to become the Women’s Tag Team Champion.

I was glad to see Deville receive some prominent mic time. She showed the makings of a good, consistent promo. My only criticism is there wasn’t much tonal difference between her initial sad, emotional state and her angry, malicious state. Her facial expressions and body language made those changes, but not so much in the voice. Still, that is something that will come with more mic time.

I’m actually excited to see the eventual match between Deville and Rose, but we’ll probably have one or two mixed tag matches before then. Either way, this has been a well-told story for a long time.