The frustrations in regards to the lack of airtime for the female talent of SmackDown has apparently not just been from fans.
In a new report from Fightful Select, during the Spring, the women of SmackDown were frustrated over their utilization on the program. The complaints were said to be from talent at the bottom of the card all the way to the top. However, Fightful was told that several talents were waiting to see “where the chips fell” until they took it to the higher ups.
In regards to the “chips falling” were the returns of Asuka, Lacey Evans, and Charlotte Flair taking time off. With none of them factoring into SmackDown for the foreseeable future at that time, creative was able to implement more women into the program on a regular basis starting with the May 13 episode of SmackDown. Since then, we’ve seen more integration of a wider variety of female performers, albeit with varying creative satisfaction. (Minus the past couple of weeks where several stars were in dark matches over the broadcast itself.)
Another “chip that fell” included Ronda Rousey joining SmackDown. Numerous sources on the roster say she has been more than willing to work with a variety of talent on the show.
One of the same sources that had originally reached out for this story said that it felt like Vince McMahon was more concerned with squeezing himself onto television after the Wall Street Journal story than actually making sure female talent was booked and protected on the show.
It was also noted that although not specific to this article, names such as Alexa Bliss, Shotzi, Aliyah, Xia Li, Doudrop, Nikki ASH had not been used in the weeks leading up to and following WrestleMania, which surprised many.
Within the past couple of week’s Liv Morgan has joined the brand after winning the SmackDown Women’s Champion.
What are your thoughts on the booking of the SmackDown women’s division? Join the discussion below.
