5 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (June 11)

2. Showing Your Hand

It was good to Ronda Rousey finally show some serious fire in her promo against Nia Jax on Monday, but it was overshadowed by what followed.

Rousey has been the smiling babyface since debuting, and her interviews have been painfully wooden since arriving, but she fired up nicely against Jax about how she’s been told she’s not ready her entire life.

But things went a little south when Nia tried to punch Rousey and she caught the arm. Jax responded by headbutting her, and proceeded to continue the attack. Ronda quickly caught the arm and went for an armbar, which she eventually locked in to made Nia tap.

Why in the hell would you do that? Half the storyline was whether Rousey could cinch in the armbar on a bigger opponent, and they gave that away for free on TV, with Nia tapping instantly. If Rousey is indeed winning the title on Sunday, then this was tipping your hand early. If she’s losing, why have her get the armbar and make it look easy now, only to fall short later?

It was just confusing, as making Rousey look vulnerable after building up the fact that she’s not experienced was the logical play here. Having her tap the Raw Women’s champion that effortlessly only works if they’re prepping her to just run through the division like the proverbial hot knife through butter.