6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (28 August - Results & Review)
DOWNS…
3. A Solid Video Package Build, But…
In a perfect world, Raquel Rodriguez would have battered a couple opponents en route to challenging Rhea Ripley for her Women’s World Championship.
WWE went a different and somewhat safer route, entrusting their crack video production unit to assemble a perfectly functional, Rodriguez-narrated vignette to get over her size and strength, putting the thought in fans’ minds that she’s Rhea’s physical equal.
The clips of Raquel hoisting up and throwing around other wrestlers while calling Ripley a bully and vowing to get revenge for her injuring Liv Morgan were effective, talking about cutting the champ down to size and taking her title.
However, it’s been six weeks since Rodriguez has wrestled on TV and three months since she won a singles match (losing her last three TV bouts). That doesn’t scream “must-see title match.” The video package closed the gap nicely, but this feud feels reheated when it should be red-hot.
Even the in-ring brawl felt forced, with WWE trying to drive home the point that Raquel is Rhea’s physical equal, when the in-ring results say otherwise. It’s a shame, because this should be a bigger title match, and it feels like it will clock in behind Zelina Vega’s shot in Puerto Rico.