>>12126723Shidabro here, I tend to agree, Shida has not been putting in her best performances lately. It almost feels like when TK cut her second reign for that cheap pop it deflated her. It's no secret that the woman has been dire, more so than usual, and it is hard to get invested in matches with random people. I miss the power rankings, it gave an actual throughline and a basic story. It wasn't amazing by any stretch of the imagination, but it grounded things. Handling Shida's defenses as if the booker is just pulling names out of the hat isn't doing Shida or the title any favours. But it just seems Shida has checked out and I can't say I blame her. Why get invested in your reign when there are no meaningful stories or matches, and your reign can come to an abrupt end at any time because the booker wants short-term gain at long-term loss? That isn't to excuse Shida, but I can understand the reason. At least her belting Storm and then chasing her gave her and Storm some much-needed heat, but now they need to follow through and build it up to get people interested and invested in the match.
I'm disappointed in Willow as well. I thought she was great in her match with Julia Hart. Willow was aggressive and played the powerhouse well. I thought when she and Shida clashed we'd get a very hard-hitting match. We didn't get that. We got a standard Willow match. A plodding affair, lacking in impact and drive... I genuinely don't get the appeal of Willow. I've not seen a lot of her matches, granted, but every time I watch her, she just lacks presence in her match and her bouts always seem to be missing weight (no, that isn't a fat joke) and power.
It's all just so tiresome...
