5 Ups & 5 Downs For WWE Raw (6 Oct - Results & Review)

4. Smoke And Mirrors

Was WWE trying to play a joke on Maxxine Dupri, or were they trying to give her a baptism by fire when they sent her out there to wrestle Becky Lynch for 14 minutes Monday night?

If the social media videos are to be treated as fact, Maxxine clearly has been putting in the work to improve in the ring. But reps in the new Dungeon doesn’t instantly make you a good wrestler, and Dupri showed Monday that there still are plenty of holes in her game. She threw one of the most pathetic, Erik Watts-like dropkicks in memory. Her punches look weak, and her fire-up spots felt rehearsed.

But Maxxine did land a few nice moves along the way, with Lynch guiding her through several sequences that included a hotter-than-expected series of pin attempts. Dupri clearly was outmatched, with Becky appearing to wrestle herself at a couple points.

Even the finish was a product of Lynch doing 100% of the work, arguing with the referee repeatedly to set up a moment where Becky posed on the announce desk and jawed with fans while Maxxine rolled back in the ring at seven. Ref Jessika Carr, having been tormented throughout the match, rapidly counted to 10, ending the match with a loss for Becky as payback.

It’s tempting to give this positive marks because of the accomplishment of Maxxine getting through a lengthy match without outright embarrassing herself. But it’s tough to do that when you still can see the strings. Still, if you were thoroughly entertained by this, that’s more than fine as well.