WWE News: ‘SmackDown’ Star Apologizes To Fans For Poorly Received Segment
Following a karaoke segment that received a lot of flak for seemingly hearkening back to a past era of women’s wrestling in WWE, Friday Night SmackDown superstar Naomi apologized to a few fans who were disappointed by its inclusion in the show’s most recent episode.
On Saturday morning, a Twitter user shared a screenshot of a comment — which you can view here — on Naomi’s Instagram account, where the fan said that they would rather see SmackDown‘s female talent compete in the ring instead of taking part in questionable segments. The wrestler, whose real name is Trinity Fatu, agreed with the fan, adding that she and her colleagues frequently “have to make chicken salad out of chicken [poop emoji]” and apologizing for the segment.
Later that day, a second fan took to Twitter to share another screenshot — seen here — this time featuring an Instagram commenter who replied to Naomi’s in-character apology for fans having to deal with her onscreen rival, Lacey Evans, in 2020. After the user wrote that WWE’s women deserve better treatment and need to be featured in actual wrestling matches, the former SmackDown Women’s Champion reassured them by noting that she and other female talents are indeed “fighting for better.”
.@NaomiWWE wins the #SmackDown Karaoke Showdown! pic.twitter.com/kWhGoiUonY
— WWE (@WWE) July 11, 2020
As reported by Comic Book, the segment in question featured Naomi and three other SmackDown women — Evans, Tamina, and Dana Brooke — taking part in a “Karaoke Showdown” where each contestant was asked to sing a WWE legend’s ring theme. Several social media users reacted negatively toward the contest, comparing it to something that wouldn’t have been out of place years ago during the “Divas” era — a period that has largely been criticized for its lack of quality women’s wrestling.
While a number of fans openly wondered why WWE didn’t book a match between Naomi and Evans instead of setting it up with a segment that they felt was dated and pointless, Comic Book opined that the ladies involved in the Karaoke Showdown “gave their all and tried to make it work.” The outlet also noted that there were some viewers who reacted positively toward it.
Naomi isn’t the only female wrestler in WWE who has seemingly criticized the company in recent weeks for its booking. Last month, Monday NightRaw superstar Liv Morgan took to Twitter to accuse the promotion of heavily editing a match she had against Natalya, cutting it down to just about a minute in length for television. WWE’s website did feature some images from the match that were not seen by TV viewers, though they were apparently removed soon after.
