3 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (19 January - Results & Review)

1. Another Weak Women’s IC Title Showing

WWE Raw Maxxine Dupri Becky Lynch
WWE

Maxxine Dupri is well past her sell-by date at this point as a serious title contender, but that didn’t stop WWE from throwing an 11-minute Women’s Intercontinental Championship rematch out there Monday night.

Becky Lynch assumed the role again of trying to get the most out of Dupri, who had a couple of nice moments, but her fire-up spot (yelling “Again!” as Becky hits her) was cringeworthy. The submission sequences and reversals required a willing suspension of disbelief. And then came the finish.

Natalya put Becky’s foot on the ropes after Lynch smacked the exposed turnbuckle and Maxxine “kicked” (in actuality, whiffed by a mile) her, which gave everyone a full display of Dupri’s “acting.” Maxxine did a full “Why Nattie, why?” routine before turning into a Manhandle Slam for the pin.

Just so we’re clear, Becky was toast if not for Nattie, but Maxxine was such a clueless novice that she just got duped and then immediately was put away. And Nattie then delivered a “C+” beatdown to cap off the heel turn.

Who did any of this help? And is anyone clamoring for a feud between Natalya and Maxxine? Lynch should be fine, as long as she can run away from all of this as quickly as possible.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.