5 Ups & 5 Downs For WWE Raw (15 Sept - Results & Review)

3. Side Quest Uploading

Stephanie Vaquer is going to be a fantastic women’s world champion in WWE soon enough, though it likely won’t happen until WrestleMania 42. Assuming she loses to Iyo Sky at WWE Wrestlepalooza, Vaquer will need to find something to occupy her time this fall before building up to a 'Mania challenge.

Enter, Asuka.

Raw provided the clearest glimpse into the depth of the Raw women’s division, with Rhea Ripley vowing to come after whomever is champion, Iyo and Asuka’s relationship fracturing, and the Empress confronting La Primera while throwing Kairi Sane in her path.

Kairi put up a good fight – though her attempt at mutual respect earned Asuka’s scorn – but she ultimately fell to Stephanie in a modestly good match. Sane is still straddling the line, loyal to Asuka but clearly conflicted between her friendship with Iyo and being a generally good person, and following Asuka down a darker path.

Meanwhile, Asuka clearly views everyone as inferior to her (including Iyo) and will likely view Vaquer as a threat post-Wrestlepalooza. It’s not hard to see the two facing off later this fall, perhaps in a small series of matches, as Asuka continues her descent into villainy.

Advertisement
In this post: 
WWE Raw
 
Posted On: 
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.