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

2. Two Birds, One Match

For the past few months, two regular criticisms about the Raw women’s division have centered on the Women’s Intercontinental Championship and Bayley. Monday night, WWE addressed both successfully.

Despite inaugural champ Lyra Valkyria saying she wanted to be a fighting champion, the Women’s IC title went more than a month without being defended after the tournament ended. Valkyria is not a gregarious character who is going to resonate with fans through interviews and backstage segments. Her biggest strength is between the bells. She and the title needed more defenses.

In recent months, Bayley has, quite frankly, looked cooked in the ring. She looks like she’s lost a step or two and hasn’t really delivered for a while now. She desperately needed something to show she can still go and silence the criticisms.

Lyra defended her IC title against Bayley on Monday night in a physical, fast-paced match that saw both women jockeying for control, countering each other, and capitalizing on miscues. It wasn’t the cleanest match by far, but the energy level was high, and there were some great spots – such as Bayley going for a low suicide dive and splatting on the floor, then recovering to catch a Lyra diving dropkick and turning it into a Bayley-to-Belly.

Bayley looked the best she has in a good while, and Valkyria continued to win over fans through the strength of her wrestling, which is perfect for a workhorse champion.