4 Ups & 9 Downs From WWE Raw (2 Aug)

1. Flawed But Effective

WWE risks making Nikki A.S.H. look weak by having her take these prolonged, one-sided beatdowns in matches. They can't book the majority of her avenues back into these bouts being the heel deciding that she doesn't want to pin her every single week without undermining her credibility as Raw Women's Champion, which has already been damaged by last week's needless loss.

Charlotte Flair pulled out of two consecutive pin attempts here. That's excessive. Nikki's new character suits fighting from beneath, but not to this extent.

The match was a success, though. Flair's overbearing character came off incredibly well as she bullied A.S.H. around the ring while the babyface summoned the spirit within. A Chicago audience gagging for weapons spots cheered when Nikki was driven through the announce table ("We're in Bizarro World, Cole!") having ceased their CM Punk chants, but turned to "this is awesome!" by the end. This shows the match was an objective success - and those chants looked legitimate, too.

A.S.H. completed her comeback by hitting Flair with a draping DDT. Had this happened without last week's defeat, it would have been an ascendant victory. As it stands, it was a fine make-good.