4 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (5 January - Results & Review)

3. Back To The Well Once Again

WWE Raw Stephanie Vaquer Raquel Rodriguez
WWE

Whether Stephanie Vaquer’s ankle injury is a pure work or has elements of truth to it, the one thing that seems to be completely true is that Raquel Rodriguez will remain a fixture in the Women’s World Championship picture.

Rodriguez attacked Vaquer after La Primera talked about her successful debut year in WWE and how her ankle injury wouldn’t stop her. Raquel targeted the ankle sheathed in a walking boot until the referees and officials broke it up. Backstage, Rodriguez attacked again, only relenting after Raw GM Adam Pearce threatened to fine her into the poor house.

Why does a competently booked injury angle involving a popular babyface champion qualify as a “down”?

Raquel’s last three televised matches have all been for the Women’s World Championship, coming up short each time. She’s only been pinned once in those three matches, but that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement to carry the feud on into a third month.

It also feels weird after last week’s triple threat title match between Vaquer, Rodriguez, and Nikki Bella, where La Primera “stole” the pin on Bella after Raquel hit Nikki with a Tejana Bomb. If anything, it felt like Rodriguez was being prepped for a babyface turn, especially with all the Judgment Day hijinks.

Instead, she very clearly was the villain Monday night.

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Contributor
Contributor

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.