The O2 Arena Just Witnessed a Total Hijacking

Slide into the booth, order a basket of overpriced wings, and let us talk about the absolute heist that went down in London. Friday night's SmackDown at the O2 Arena was supposed to be the coronation of Giulia, the final chapter of her cleaning out the midcard cupboards.

Instead, we got a home-turf hijacking that instantly saved the blue brand's women's division from terminal boredom. If you bought a ticket expecting a standard television taping, you got treated to a premium-grade mugging instead.

Let us be completely honest about Kiana James. She is a phenomenal athlete who is currently being booked like a temporary speed bump for the stars WWE actually cares about.

Her match with Giulia was structured to do one thing: get Giulia over as a dominant force before the real story started. Giulia shut her down with a brutal Arrivederci knee and a devastating Northern Lights Bomb to secure the pin at the eight-minute mark.

Giulia did not even get to wipe the sweat off her brow before the O2 Arena erupted. Out of nowhere, Blake Monroe materialized in the ring like a ghost in sequined gear.

The London crowd, recognizing their hometown girl immediately, lost their collective minds. Before Giulia could even register the noise, Monroe blindsided her, dropping her with a vicious Neutralizer that left the former STARDOM champion staring at the rafters.

The Stamford Name Generator Strikes Again

First, we need to address the elephant in the room, and that is the name. Who in the Stamford creative office decided that Mariah May needed to be rebranded as Blake Monroe?

Mariah May is a money name with star power written all over it. Blake Monroe sounds like a character in a Netflix teen drama who spends her summers riding horses and complaining about her trust fund. It is a classic WWE move to run a name through the corporate generator to produce something that sounds like a generic country music singer.

But name changes aside, you cannot deny the talent. Monroe had a stellar run in NXT, where she held the NXT Women's North American Championship for 52 days in late 2025.

She won the title on October 25, 2025, and defended it with absolute grit until losing it on December 16, 2025. Since then, WWE has kept her on ice, feeding us those annoying coming soon vignettes that make you want to throw your remote at the screen. This London debut finally delivered on the promise.

The transition from NXT to the main roster is always a gamble. Some wrestlers get lost in the shuffle immediately, while others are forced into gimmick changes that strip away everything that made them popular.

Fortunately, Monroe seems to have kept her edge. The London crowd gave her a hero's welcome, and the look of sheer malice on her face when she stood over Giulia proved she is not here to play nice.

A Rivalry Born in the Faction Wars of Tokyo

This is not just some random matchup thrown together by a creative team that ran out of ideas. These two have history, and it is the kind of history that makes hardcore fans drool.

If you followed STARDOM, you know exactly what these two are capable of. Back in Tokyo, they were on opposite sides of a faction war, with Monroe running with Club Venus and Giulia leading Donna del Mondo.

They only had one singles match against each other, and it was a certified classic. On August 8, 2023, during the 5STAR Grand Prix, they went toe-to-toe in a match that looked less like professional wrestling and more like a televised bar fight.

Giulia walked away with the victory that night after hitting a series of stiff knee strikes, but Monroe proved she could hang with the absolute best. Bringing that history to the SmackDown stage is a stroke of booking genius.

For the average viewer who only watches WWE, this might look like a fresh rivalry. But for those of us with longer memories, it is the continuation of a war that started thousands of miles away.

The contrast in styles is what makes this match-up so compelling. Giulia brings a hard-hitting physical approach, while Monroe combines athletic elegance with a ruthless streak that can end a match in seconds.

Historical Echoes and the Danger of WWE Over-Production

This moment felt reminiscent of when Paige debuted on the post-WrestleMania RAW in 2014, shocking AJ Lee to win the Divas Championship. It has that same raw energy of a new force arriving to disrupt the established order.

Except this time, the newcomer is not a wide-eyed rookie; she is an established champion ready to tear the house down. WWE has a habit of smoothing over the rough edges of their signings, but they need to let these two go full Japanese strong-style.

Think back to when Shinsuke Nakamura arrived on the main roster. The initial excitement was off the charts, but the creative team watered down his style until he became just another guy on the roster.

Giulia and Monroe need to be allowed to beat the absolute tar out of each other. The crowd at the O2 Arena did not react the way they did because they wanted to see a standard WWE lockup; they wanted to see a fight.

This is the perfect opportunity for SmackDown to differentiate its women's division from RAW. While the red brand focuses on episodic drama, SmackDown can become the home of athletic competition.

The division has been stagnant for months, with the same rotation of talent fighting over the same scrap of championship gold. This attack is a shot of adrenaline straight into the heart of the blue brand.

The Sacrificial Lambs and the Rest of the Roster

My only concern is how WWE handles the rest of the roster while this feud takes off. Kiana James is already suffering from this booking, going from a promising NXT talent to a sacrificial lamb in a span of three weeks.

If WWE is going to build a division, they cannot just focus on two people while everyone else gets treated like background extras. By pivoting to Giulia, WWE also leaves Tiffany Stratton in a weird holding pattern that does not help anyone.

A healthy division requires depth, not just a couple of marquee stars. If James is just going to be used as fodder, her talent is being wasted.

She has the mic skills and the ring presence to be a major player, but matches like Friday's make her look like an afterthought. WWE needs to find a way to keep her relevant while Giulia and Monroe dominate the spotlight.

Furthermore, the creative team must avoid the trap of hot-shotting this feud. We do not need a match next week on SmackDown.

Let them trade verbal blows and backstage assaults before they finally lock up in the ring. The build-up is just as important as the payoff, and rushing to a television match would be a waste of a money feud.

The Verdict from the Sports Bar

At the end of the day, this is the most exciting development on SmackDown in months. Blake Monroe has the look, the pedigree, and the hometown support to be a massive star on the main roster.

Giulia has already established herself as a force to be reckoned with. Putting them in a program together is a license to print money, provided the creative team does not get in their own way.

Grab another round, because the blue brand's women's division just got interesting again. The road to the next premium live event is going to be paved with stiff forearms and broken bones. We are here for every single second of it.