3 Ups & 9 Downs From WWE Raw (Jan 25)
8. Burning First-Time-Ever Matches
![Charlotte Flair Shayna Baszler](https://cdn3.whatculture.com/images/2021/01/610a2c9dfacd7c81-600x338.jpg)
Just to remind you, it just feels like Shayna Baszler has been a part of the Raw roster forever. In reality, she’s still barely a year into her run on the red brand.
And yet, WWE seems to love taking first-time-ever matches with people like her and just burning them for no reason whatsoever. Last month, we got Baszler versus Asuka on Raw as a prelude to a Women’s Tag Team Championship match, when it could have been a PPV match for the Empress’ Raw Women’s Championship.
On Monday, Baszler fought Charlotte Flair in the first-ever singles match between the two, which ended just seconds into the bout when the Queen slapped on a Figure Four, but Nia Jax interjected for a DQ.
This wasn’t Mandy Rose versus Naomi or something like that for the first time. Baszler still could be a credible threat atop the women’s division, one of the few wrestlers who could give Charlotte trouble. But no, this was all a backdrop for another tag title match, as well as Flair’s rivalry with Lacey Evans.
Just… why?