Tiffany Stratton defended the WWE Women’s United States Championship against Jacy Jayne on the 14 August edition of SmackDown.
Except, yes, I am writing this about two weeks later.
I am woefully behind.
Social media has already done what social media does, so I know what happens. Jacy Jayne wins. There will be no attempt here to manufacture suspense around whether the referee’s hand reaches three. Nevertheless, I was excited for this one before pressing play, because I have been firmly aboard the Fatal Influence train since the days when Jazmyn Nyx was still standing alongside Jayne and Fallon Henley.
And knowing the destination doesn’t necessarily ruin the journey.
Particularly when the destination is Jacy Jayne holding another championship.
Jacy Jayne Has Earned Another Moment
Jayne earned this opportunity through Fatal Influence’s continuing problems with Stratton and Chelsea Green, with Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid successfully defending their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships against the pair.
Already, there is something pleasingly coherent happening.
Henley and Reid have gold. Jayne wants hers.
That matters because Jayne has already demonstrated what she can do when a division is allowed to revolve around her.
Her NXT Women’s Championship reign included that victory over Stephanie Vaquer, a moment that transformed Jayne from somebody who had spent years being useful into somebody WWE suddenly had to treat as important. She had been part of Toxic Attraction, survived its destruction, rebuilt herself and eventually became the central figure of Fatal Influence.
She has done the developmental-system miles.
Another championship shouldn’t feel charitable. It should feel like progression.
Stratton, meanwhile, enters this match with an enormous flashing warning label attached.
Earlier in the evening, Nia Jax and Lash Legend attacked her while pursuing Chelsea Green, who couldn’t properly intervene because of her own injury. Stratton’s midsection took punishment.
There is your protection should the champion lose.
It is wrestling logic, certainly, but good wrestling logic.
Fatal Influence Understand the Assignment
Before anybody throws a punch, however, Fatal Influence provide one of my favourite little moments of the entire thing.
Their walk through the corridor is fantastic.
Jayne leads with circular sunglasses, completely collected, while Henley and Reid flank her carrying their championships. The presentation is intense without requiring anyone to scream about how intense they are.
Fatal Influence look like champions.
There is a difference.
Then SmackDown goes to an advert.
No.
Absolutely not.
We don’t get the complete entrance or presentation and I have pulled a genuinely sour expression. You cannot give me the ominous corridor sequence and then take away the full entrance. There are standards. Civilisation depends upon some of them.
Thankfully, when coverage returns, Henley and Reid hoist their championships either side of Jayne while she signals that she wants one too.
Simple.
Perfect.
Then comes Stratton.
She arrives quickly in pastel butterfly-inspired gear, seemingly showing little outward effect from the earlier assault.
The visual contrast is excellent.
Stratton is pastel colour and sparkle. Jayne is black and leopard print. Whether this was deliberately coordinated beforehand doesn’t particularly matter. Two wrestlers standing opposite each other should look distinctive, and these two immediately do.
Professional wrestling is visual theatre before the bell even rings.
It’s weird to think these two squared off not that long ago and JJ lost clean.
Jacy Jayne Starts Like She Means It
Jayne attacks immediately.
Fast, aggressive and wonderfully uncomplicated.
At this point I’m also wondering how long her signature fishnet legwear survives. That stuff has historically entered wrestling matches with approximately the structural integrity of wet tissue paper.
Outside, Henley and Reid are already contributing.
Reid sticks her fingers in her ears while goading the crowd.
Exceptional.
Again.
Jayne attempts a big reverse senton from the ropes but misses, allowing Stratton to establish some momentum and collect a two-count. Stratton follows with a particularly nasty-looking clothesline before Fatal Influence provide the distraction.
Jayne capitalises.
Backcracker.
Lovely, horrible stuff.
And then…
Another advert.
Seriously?
When we return, Stratton is outside and something has changed.
Chelsea Green has arrived.
Black eye and all.
Green’s presence balances the numbers slightly and gives the remainder of the match another moving part. That is important because this isn’t really Jayne versus Stratton in isolation anymore. There are relationships orbiting everything happening inside the ring.
Back inside, they trade strikes until Stratton begins accelerating.
This is where the earlier rib work creates a slightly funny problem.
Jayne has sensibly targeted the midsection damaged by Jax and Legend. Stratton then starts performing her usual gymnastic offence.
Now, I actually looked this up.
You are generally advised to avoid gymnastics with injured ribs because twisting, bending, core engagement, impact and even the deeper breathing required during strenuous exercise can aggravate the affected area.
So a cartwheel isn’t exactly ideal.
But we also know Stratton hasn’t actually suffered the wrestling equivalent of being hit by a small van. Sometimes the performance has to win.
And Stratton’s athleticism certainly does.
She transitions into an Alabama Slam.
Fierce.
Then Jayne goes down and Stratton climbs.
Prettiest Moonsault Ever?
No.
She’s facing the wrong direction.
Swanton Bomb.
Fantastic.
Straight from the Jeff Hardy library, and it earns Stratton another two-count.
The Moment Finally Arrives
Jayne responds with a superkick, and I love Henley and Reid’s reaction outside.
They are animated throughout this match.
Reid is finger-wagging, both are protesting, celebrating and reacting to every momentum swing. This is what people occasionally miss about good ringside stable work. You shouldn’t merely stand there waiting for the predetermined interference spot.
You are part of the match.
Stratton eventually regains control and goes for the Prettiest Moonsault Ever.
Knees up.
Jayne survives.
Then everything spills outside.
Green takes down Henley on the apron. Stratton launches herself onto Henley and Reid with a diving crossbody.
Great move.
But Stratton has taken her eyes away from the challenger.
She returns to the ring.
Jayne is waiting.
Rolling Encore.
One.
Two.
Three.
Jacy Jayne is a champion on the WWE main roster.
Love it.
Fatal Influence Needed This
What I particularly like is that nobody really leaves diminished.
Stratton loses her championship, but she entered the match after being attacked by Nia Jax and Lash Legend, fought through Jayne’s targeting of her ribs, dealt with Fatal Influence outside and ultimately got caught immediately after diving onto Henley and Reid.
There are enough mitigating circumstances there without completely devaluing Jayne’s victory.
That balance matters.
Overprotect the defeated wrestler and the winner looks fraudulent. Ignore everything surrounding the defeat and you potentially damage somebody unnecessarily.
Here, Jayne still had to survive the Alabama Slam, the Swanton Bomb and Stratton’s explosive bursts of offence before capitalising on the opening she was given.
Most importantly, Fatal Influence leave looking stronger.
Henley and Reid already have championships. Now Jayne has one too.
Their celebrations matter because the group feels invested in each other’s success. Green’s reaction matters because Stratton’s defeat affects somebody beyond Stratton. Even the contrasting gear and animated ringside performances help sell the idea that these aren’t just wrestlers randomly occupying the same television segment.
There is an ecosystem developing around them.
And this is where WWE now has something worth protecting.
Fatal Influence have occasionally existed in that dangerous wrestling territory where a faction looks good, talks confidently and appears frequently enough that you assume something significant is coming eventually.
Eventually has now arrived.
Jacy Jayne has another championship.
She has already proved she can carry gold and responsibility. Now she gets the opportunity to discover whether what worked in NXT can survive the rather different machinery of SmackDown.
That is the interesting part.
Winning the championship creates the photograph.
What WWE does with Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, Lainey Reid and Fatal Influence afterwards determines whether anybody still cares about that photograph six months from now.
For now, though?
Let them hold those titles up.
They’ve earned the shot.
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