3 Ups And 12 Downs From WWE Raw (Sept 21)

10. Zelina Vega: #1 Contender

Zelina Vega Asuka
WWE.com

Before her victory Monday night, Zelina Vega had wrestled five televised matches in 2020, not winning any of them. In fact, she had only won one televised match in the past two years, spanning 16 matches.

But Monday, she defeated six-time former champ Mickie James to become the #1 contender for the Raw Women’s Championship, facing Asuka at Clash of Champions. Look, we should give credit to WWE for giving us a fresh matchup, but it’s how we got here that’s the gripe.

Vega got frustrated with her stable of Andrade & Angel Garza, so she ditched them, stormed out to the ring and slapped Asuka, challenging her. Suddenly, she was in a #1 contender’s match against James, who lost her title match in controversial fashion last week.

As with many things with WWE, there was no build, no explanation, no basic storytelling. A simple comment from Asuka saying she wants to make Vega pay for slapping her, so she’s granting a title match to humiliate her, would have sufficed – even if it’s clear that the perennial loser doesn’t deserve a title shot.

Zelina’s big title shot is on the kickoff show after a whirlwind one-week buildup, which should show you what WWE thinks of it.

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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.