Tiffany Stratton had already helped her team win when Lash Legend decided she could be useful for something else. Specifically, demonstrating what the Lash Extension looks like when delivered to somebody who had briefly been under the impression they were on your side.
So much for brand loyalty.
I enjoyed this. The six-woman tag on SmackDown brought together Lash, Jacy and Tiffany against Sol Ruca, Lola Vice and Roxanne Perez, then allowed them to behave like six people with competing interests rather than two suddenly devoted friendship groups. They could cooperate. They could also remember precisely why they would prefer not to.
Lash was particularly good at both.
Six Women, Two Teams and Very Little Trust
The night before Money in the Bank, WWE put its six ladder match participants into a tag match and asked them to represent their respective programmes. This is a peculiar annual workplace exercise. Tomorrow, you will be encouraged to knock these people off ladders. Tonight, please demonstrate commitment to the department.
The familiar question was whether they could coexist. Wrestling asks this often enough that somebody should have developed a questionnaire.
Roxanne Perez Makes Herself Unpopular
Roxanne’s contribution was particularly enjoyable because her ability and her attitude were pulling in different directions.
She could quicken the pace, throw herself through the ropes with a suicide dive and find counters against opponents who had considerable physical advantages. Her response to Lash’s power, including working into a modified guillotine, gave their exchanges something more interesting than a smaller wrestler waiting to be flattened.
Perez could wrestle her way into a better position. Persuading her partners to appreciate her was another matter.
The unsolicited tags and berating did exactly what they needed to do. Roxanne wanted control without having to earn anybody’s cooperation, a management style familiar to anyone who has ever received an email beginning “just circling back”.
Eventually, Sol and Lola stepped off the apron and left her to deal with Lash.
Petty? Certainly. Understandable? Also certainly.
There is something especially satisfying about a wrestler reaching towards a corner and discovering that the people she has spent the match irritating have developed other commitments. Roxanne had wanted the spotlight. Her partners generously allowed her to keep it.
Unfortunately, Lash was standing in it.
Sol Ruca and Lola Vice Keep Things Moving
Sol supplied the sort of athleticism that makes an ordinary stretch of television wrestling feel briefly unreasonable.
Her moonsault to the floor against Lash and springboard offence gave the match height and speed, while also making the contrast with Legend clearer. Sol could change the shape of an exchange in an instant. Lash could make the landing considerably worse.
That is a useful combination.
Lola brought a different approach, attacking Lash’s legs with repeated kicks. Against somebody that powerful, targeting the hamstrings and thighs felt like a sensible attempt to interfere with the machinery before it started lifting people.
Vice’s kicks gave that power something to work against. Her running hip attacks brought another burst of movement, and the match benefited from having offence that felt distinct across the participants. Sol’s aerial invention, Lola’s striking and Roxanne’s quick counters belonged to three different wrestlers.
They did not blur into one interchangeable sequence of people taking turns.
Their cooperation also remained imperfect. Sol and Lola could agree that Roxanne was annoying without suddenly becoming incapable of getting in each other’s way. Shared irritation is a strong foundation for a temporary alliance, but it does not improve spatial awareness.
Tiffany and Jacy Remember Who They Are
Tiffany’s athletic contribution mattered too. The springboard cutter and rolling senton combination gave her exchanges their familiar acceleration, while her basement dropkick counter to Roxanne’s Pop Rocks attempt provided a sharp interruption.
She looked capable of finding an answer rather than simply waiting for her scheduled burst of offence.
Jacy worked through positioning and opportunism. Her apron cannonball added impact, but the distractions around Charles Robinson were equally appropriate to the match. If a referee can be encouraged to inspect the wrong problem, there is little reason for Jacy to volunteer the correct one.
This was what I liked about the makeshift teams. The wrestlers’ roles were observed throughout.
Jacy remained someone who would take an available shortcut. Roxanne remained talented and difficult. Tiffany could contribute without forgetting that her corner contained people she had every reason to distrust.
And Lash could help SmackDown win while making it increasingly obvious that SmackDown should not get comfortable.
Another Accident, This Time with a Sol Snatcher
The finish returned to the problem Raw had brought into the match.
Lola connected with her spinning back fist on Lash. Sol then launched into the Sol Snatcher, only for Legend to evade it and leave Vice in the path of her own partner’s finisher.
Monday’s accident had acquired a return fixture.
I liked the reversal. Lola had previously struck Sol by mistake; now Sol wiped out Lola while trying to finish the opponent in front of them. Neither needed to become malicious for the relationship to deteriorate further.
Being well intentioned is of limited comfort when your teammate has just delivered her finishing move to you.
Lash took advantage, caught the disorientated Sol and planted her with the Lash Extension for the pinfall. Eleven minutes and fourteen seconds, a SmackDown victory, and a Raw team with several matters to discuss once everybody could stand up.
Legend’s timing was the important part. Other people created the confusion. She converted it into a result.
Lash Legend Has Finished Being Helpful
Before Jacy Jayne got a punch from Lash Legend, she got a hug. And Jacy committed to the hug, leaping up on Lash with the enthusiasm of someone who had absolutely no concerns about how the next few seconds might go.
I loved that little detail. Properly daft, properly fun, and considerably more memorable than another exchange of meaningful looks while commentary explains that tensions are rising. We could see the tension. Jacy just hadn’t found it yet.
For a moment, Lash was apparently still available for emotional support. Jacy had approached a woman built like Mechagodzilla and decided the sensible thing to do was jump on her. In fairness, the initial reception suggested this was an acceptable use of the facilities.
Then came the punch.
The hug made it better. Jacy’s enthusiasm gave the moment something to interrupt, turning a straightforward act of violence into a very abrupt withdrawal of affection. There is being pleased to see somebody, and there is discovering that the feeling has an expiry date.
Lash had finished being helpful. Unfortunately for Jacy, this information arrived after she had already left the ground.
