Giulia’s name is trending across social media, as she has become the longest reigning WWE Women’s United States Champion. As of November 7, she’s cracked 133 days, passing the original streak held by Chelsea Green. Unfortunately for Giulia, her run as champion is a flat-out failure and that’s not her fault at all.
Giulia has held that title for 133 days and has defended it twice. She took on Zelina Vega in a rematch for the title on August 1. Her second defense came against Michin on September 5. Since winning the title, Giulia has had only four televised matches, two of which were tag team matches with Kianna James as her partner.
Let’s compare that to the WWE Women’s Intercontinental title. That title has had two champions in Lyra Valkyria and Becky Lynch. Valkyria had five successful defenses before dropping the title to Lynch. Lynch has put on seven title defenses, with one loss to Maxxine Dupri via disqualification. The difference between how these two titles and the women involved are booked is like night and day.
Giulia is one of the best wrestlers in the world today. Her catalog of matches in Japan features some of the hardest-hitting showcases fans can find. Her run in WWE NXT was short, but also strong, as she had some standout matches there as well. Giulia could easily be the type of performer who impacts the midcard the same way GUNTHER did during his breakthrough run as WWE Intercontinental Champion. So, what is standing in the way of that? None other than the booking on SmackDown.
WWE SmackDown is a horrible show
WWE SmackDown is the worst product in the promotion’s catalog right now. It does not hold up, even compared to WWE Evolve, which is the developmental to the developmental brand that is NXT. Fans are sternly pointing their finger at Road Dogg, who is in charge of booking SmackDown. Giulia’s horrible booking should fall firmly on his shoulders because he has failed to keep her momentum rolling.
Giulia doesn’t feel like a star in any way. Even worse, the title she is holding doesn’t feel special. There’s a reason women are chasing after Becky Lynch and the midcard title she’s holding. None of that energy is prevalent when looking at Giulia’s place as champion. This is exactly why that championship hasn’t appeared on any WWE PLEs. In fact, the majority of the SmackDown champions have failed to appear frequently on PLEs compared to the stars of Monday Night Raw. Again, the same issue follows them as the issue that is following Giulia.
Giulia has a place in history as the longest-reigning WWE Women’s United States Champion to date. But that doesn’t mean she’s a great champion. Her run hasn’t succeeded at all, and it is an unfortunate position to be in as Road Dogg continues to fail booking WWE SmackDown as a whole.