WWE has a reputation of “ruining” some performers who come from one major company and move into the biggest promotion in the business. There are several examples, but the latest edition has some online alarmed. Giulia’s run on WWE SmackDown has been abysmal and she’s slowly approaching the point of no return. It’s not too late, but there’s a path to putting Giulia into a position where she can become an interesting member of the WWE women’s roster like many of her peers.
It is shocking, but not surprising to see where Giulia is on the main roster. She hasn’t been booked well from the start, and things are getting worse. In-person crowds barely react to her appearances or anything that she does. She held the WWE Women’s United States Championship for 133 days in what was a horrid reign. She defended the title only two times in that span before dropping it in 95 seconds to a performer who has found a way to get herself over in Chelsea Green. Remember when KUSHIDA and Sareee were members of the WWE NXT roster? You don’t? That’s because their booking was absolutely atrocious and the same thing is happening to Giulia today.
Get Giulia off SmackDown
The first thing that needs to happen is Giulia must get off SmackDown. There’s something about the creative direction of that show that isn’t helping anyone get over. Giulia has been caught up in an issue that has impacted several others including Cody Rhodes, Tiffany Stratton, Jade Cargill, the tag team titles, and more. There’s no hope that moving the show back to 3 hours will help, but that seems to be the move.
Regardless of that plan, Giulia would be better served if she was shifted to Monday Night Raw. There are fresh matchups available and the opportunity to work with some of the best talent in the world. Imagine booking Giulia in an angle against Asuka or IYO Sky, giving them the space to have a fleshed out feud. That would go a long way in revitalizing her run in the company.
Establish Giulia with video packages
One thing that WWE does well is develop video packages to promote matches and performers. There are so many great examples of video packages that were put together to make a performer look interesting heading into a match or angle.
The company could do the same for Giulia. After moving her off SmackDown, give the fans time to build interest in her with 2-3 video packages showing how she’s a threat to any woman in front of her. To make the packages even more interesting, WWE should look to her time in Japan and license some of her highlights from there. There are so many videos online of Giulia in hard-hitting matches that built the interest around her to begin with. Using that to start her run on Monday Night Raw would go much further than anything she’s done today on the main roster.
Allow Giulia to open up her offense
As mentioned, Giulia has a slew of excellent matches on her resume. One thing that stood out from her run in Japan is that she had some brutal matches. The kind that many performers, especially women, do not get the opportunity to have in WWE. WWE should make the shift with Giulia and allow her to open up her roster. Think about some of the ways that Gunther brutalizes his opponents. Giulia is capable of doing the same thing and should get the chance to do so to help turn fans back toward one of the best bell-to-bell wrestlers on the roster.