WWE SmackDown: Sonya Deville should take the briefcase from Otis

Something drastic needs to happen on WWE SmackDown, because the Money in the Bank briefcase has become an afterthought.

Wrestling fans were shocked when Otis won the Money in the Bank briefcase earlier this year. The WWE SmackDown wrestler’s triumph wasn’t inconceivable, since he seems to be a favorite of Vince McMahon’s and was in a big storyline with Mandy Rose. But Otis has never been a main event player, nor has there ever been any indication he would become one. Hence why some fans wondered if he could cash-in on the tag titles.

Fast forward months later, and the Money in the Bank briefcase essentially doesn’t matter. Otis has been featured on WWE programming sparingly, while the Universal Title picture has focused on Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, and even Alexa Bliss now. As for Otis, he is on the periphery.

Meanwhile, the feud between Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville is heating up again after Deville cut off Rose’s hair and beat the hell out of her last week on WWE SmackDown. The two former tag team partners had a brawl on the most recent episode, too.

Rose has a lot of potential and would probably win the match at SummerSlam. But most wrestling fans know that Deville is the one with top star potential. And yes, we mean it. She has the potential to be one of the biggest stars in the company.

Sonya Deville has been one of WWE SmackDown’s standouts

Deville has always been a solid wrestler, and fans, of course, like to note her MMA background. But what really sets Deville apart is her promos and character work. She’s been SO good during this feud with Rose, including cutting a great promo on Miz TV to save another segment involving John Morrison and The Miz from devolving into embarrassment.

So why not shift from Otis to Deville? If Otis has no momentum and if there’s no sense in keeping up the façade that he will cash in to become Universal Champion, why not put the briefcase on a future world champion who is producing exemplary heel work?

The idea of Deville winning the briefcase was proposed to me by a friend of the site on Twitter, @RosePlanted_. She has a lot of great ideas, and she came up with a possible way of Deville getting the briefcase. Her idea? Mandy and Sonya have a match with Otis’ briefcase on the line. And Sonya wins.

I love it, but I think there’s one valid concern people will raise, and that’s Mandy’s win-loss record. Babyfaces need to be booked carefully, and Deville can’t just walk all over Rose. The latter needs to get a big win, too, which is why they can have two big matches. Deville wins the briefcase, and then Rose wins either a hair vs. hair match that everyone keeps talking about or eventually takes the title off Deville one day.

To be honest with you, I’m not 100 percent sure how to book this program in a way that keeps both wrestlers strong, but I know two things. Firstly, Deville and Rose have bright futures ahead of them, no matter what. And secondly, that briefcase would be so much better in Deville’s hands.