Top 3 things that went wrong on the Dec. 10 episode of SmackDown

Much like the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers have done for most of the 2021-22 NBA season, the Dec. 10 episode of SmackDown gave the fans who filled up the Staples Center little to be excited about.

Unless you’re a fan of WWE’s tired booking tropes, this week’s show was a chore to get through, and these three moments were primarily responsible for this mess of an episode.

These are the top three things that went wrong on the Dec. 10 episode of SmackDown.

Toni Storm earns her SmackDown Women’s Championship match…via disqualification

You know, other wrestling promotions must enjoy having WWE around to show them what to avoid when building up a world championship contender. The promotion’s…efforts to “build up” Toni Storm as the next challenger to Charlotte Flair’s SmackDown Women’s Championship exemplify this ineptitude.

As if booking Storm to get piefaced by Flair and having Flair dismiss Storm as a credible threat to “The Queen’s” belt wasn’t bad enough, WWE further cemented Storm as a weak challenger by scripting Storm to “beat” Flair by disqualification in a Championship Contender’s match when the champ stomped on Storm in the corner and ignored the referee’s five-count.

Oh, and if you weren’t sure how WWE viewed Storm in this program, they also had Flair attack her after the match. It was clear that WWE didn’t think about this past “Well, Charlotte got pinned (via a rope-assisted rollup) at Survivor Series, so we can’t have her get pinned, but we have to find some way to get Toni the title shot without making Flair look too weak.” and thought up this dumb finish instead of having both win respective matches before they wrestle for the title.

A quick tip: If you’re going to book a story where the heel champion takes the underdog adversary lightly, don’t book a match where said heel champion dominates 95 percent of the match and only loses because of a technicality. The finish made Flair look like an idiot for forgetting the rules and the stakes of the match and Storm comes across as a scrub who got lucky.

RK-Bro randomly appears on SmackDown with little explanation.

Apparently, the RK-Bro vs. The Usos match from the 2021 Survivor Series — a match that ended with Orton and Riddle beating The Usos clean — failed to adequately determine who the best team in WWE is, so WWE decided to run it back and add The New Day in on a random episode of SmackDown to come to a definitive conclusion.

What a flimsy reason to once again make a farce out of your own brand split, WWE. Yes, the announcers explained that Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce invited them to SmackDown “for one night only”, but even that rebuttal leads to more questions that make you wonder why WWE bothers with separate rosters at all?

It’s clear that RK-Bro appeared on the show to fill the star power chasm created by Roman Reigns’ absence and to avoid booking an Usos/New Day match before those teams face off for the SmackDown Tag Titles at Day 1. Both reasons expose the company’s lack of depth on SmackDown in general and especially in the tag team division.

It’s too bad WWE didn’t have some sort of draft to address these issues.

Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs vs. Los Lotharios

WWE felt that this match was only worth a minute and 25 seconds, which pretty much says everything about how the company sees everyone involved, most disappointed the Intercontinental Champion.

At least Nakamura got the pin in this one, but it still felt like a showcase for the greener, more aggravating Boogs. Furthermore, having Nakamura hold onto the IC Title without defending it erodes the title’s credibility, particularly when the alternative to not defending it is taking a backseat to an annoying guitarist.

As for Los Lotharios, it’s nice to see them getting TV time, but them being stuck on this carousel of a feud makes them feel like placeholders until WWE figures out something else to do with Boogs and Nakamura.