6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Monday Night Raw (3 November - Results & Review)
UPS…
6. All-Star Babyface Team Comes Up Short
On paper, Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer and WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella should defeat most challengers, but when they’re tagging for the first time and facing former women’s tag champs in the Judgment Day, it’s understandable that they might not emerge triumphant.
Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez toppled the decorated faces Monday night, with Perez once again pinning Bella after a Pop Rox. Credit to Nikki, who had probably her best match since returning to WWE. Working a tag, she was able to hit a few signature spots, including a Disaster Kick, a tornado DDT, and a Rack Attack 2.0, and looked solid while in the ring.
That’s probably one of the biggest things for Bella at this stage: getting her timing back and looking like a credible threat should she turn on Vaquer or enter another singles feud. And losing alongside her “best friend” like this a couple of times could fuel that heel turn by a frustrated Bella. She already needed a pep talk from Stephanie later in the show to get her confidence back.
Unsurprisingly, Vaquer and Perez were as dependable as ever, but Rodriguez was the MVP for her team, catching a diving crossbody from La Primera and later dropping her face-first on the apron to take her out of the match. She then landed the cheapshot that allowed Roxanne to finish off Bella.
Raquel battering Vaquer at the end of the match telegraphed that she will be the next challenger for Stephanie’s title. That could be a really fun match, giving Vaquer a giant to slay. All told, this match accomplished quite a bit economically.