3 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (31 Oct)

Downs...

7. It's Just A Numbers Game

Nikki Cross
WWE

Triple H is now presenting new character upon new character upon new character upon rebooted NXT character with minimal exposition.

Ironic, no?

Gauging by the contrasting crowd reaction between Bianca Belair Vs. Nikki Cross and most Forbidden Door developments, AEW fans are more cognisant of NJPW than WWE fans are of WWE NXT. The return of the unhinged Nikki Cross character barely registered with the Texas crowd, who did not react to her fire-ups. She's very talented, so all should go well enough, but this was a strange start in what is becoming a pattern. Triple H clearly has no idea what to do with Candice LeRae nor Emma. What to do with Cross?

The answer is what he does with seemingly everybody else: a distraction finish. The match was solid if unremarkable fare built around the premise that Bianca Belair is strong and Nikki Cross will fly into her with no compunction regardless. Because she is unhinged.

Little more than a means of establishing the character as an indiscriminate tweener - and of course, a loser - her being shafted by Damage CTRL suggests we're in for a "Whose side is she on?" direction ahead of WarGames. This might be halfway interesting, and something has to be - statistically, if nothing else. So far, it feels like Triple H has fancied doing WarGames, created a stable and recruited more names to facilitate it, and failed to tell a compelling story beyond some rumblings of "control".

Pop quiz: recite literally anything Bayley has said over the last few months verbatim.

This is an issue, and this segment did little to clarify any real purpose surrounding the women's division.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!