After a few months of less than stellar RAWs for the Women’s Division, the past two weeks have been a welcome change of pace. With the Draft being announced and the state of the Women’s Title being unclear, the division has an unclear future and with the return of Sasha Banks, there are even more questions than answers.
Speaking of the Boss, she teamed with Paige to defeat the team of Women’s Champion Charlotte and her lackey Dana Brooke in a fun, fast-paced thriller to kick things off. Let’s check it out!
Later in the show, what would seem like a sweet second Women’s match would prove to be pure fiction. Summer Rae was set to battle Becky Lynch, with her ex-BFF Natalya at ringside for commentary. As soon as she saw Nattie, the Lass-Kicker makes a sprint to the commentator’s booth attacking the Anvilette, even brawling to the point Lilian Garcia almost got caught in the crossfire.
Thoughts: My thoughts on this week’s RAW are 50/50. I loved some and didn’t care for some. Let’s dig in to this tag match. It was fun and much more fast-pace with a ton of melee aspects. That is what makes tag matches so much fun to watch. I thought there would be some awkwardness with Paige and Sasha tagging, but the two had chemistry. I loved the double hip-toss and the reach spot towards the end. Great stuff. Charlotte was great here too, playing the cowardly heel to Sasha (in a way revealing that Sasha is the only real threat she feels towards the title). The cheap shot after her taunt was unexpected and made me pop from my couch. Major kudos to those three for the fun spots outside the ring. The only weak spot here was Dana. I’m unsure if the booking was to make her look so weak but she was a RAGDOLL out there. In WWE video game logic, her head was on red as soon as Sasha bashed her on the turnbuckle, and the match JUST started! I’m a big Dana supporter but homegirl is gonna need to find a way to step up and make us SEE her. She seems so lost out there and I am sure the loss of her partner Emma has played a very significant role.
Another negative about the match/angle is that it has no story. Whilst I throughly enjoyed the show these ladies put on, I still have no idea what the plot of it all is. I get that Sasha is targeting the Women’s title, but what else? I really would have liked a promo post match, or a vignette, even the weird pre-tapes behind a curtain. SOMETHING to aid in the narration of this feud. I’m over just the tired “match-match-match” philosophy. It is not effective at all if you ask me. Also, it is unclear what Paige’s role in this all is. Is she just another body for a tag match or will she stake her claim to the title. Give her something to play with as well.
The Becky/Nattie segment was done right in theory, but I would have changed how it was done exactly. The attack was fine and it allows Becky to get a leg up in the feud and Nattie’s justification of her heel turn was done expertly on commentary! She was able to tie in the past year’s worth of struggle and her reaching her boiling point.
And yes, this was the right move to go, it was at the cost of Summer Rae. That really bothered me viewing this. Having her come out to do absolutely NOTHING was totally unfair. After having stellar matches on Main Event and Superstars the past month, I was hoping her match was some type of reward and maybe another indication of Summer getting the chance to really get something to sink her teeth into. No other female on the roster can touch Summer on the mic, she knows how to draw heat from the crowd (I was at a house show and she nearly caused a riot) and still she is not utilized? Even with last year’s awful feuds she was involved in, she still made the best of it through compelling performances. With the Draft near, I hope it gives women like Summer the chance to actually have worth and show what they can do.
Did you enjoy the tag match? Do you feel that a story is being told? Was the beatdown effective? Should Summer Rae be in higher profile segments? Sound off in the comments and thanks for reading!
