6 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (11 Sept)

1. Raquel Needs A Change

Raquel Rodriguez
WWE

Give WWE credit for giving it the college try with Raquel Rodriguez, but her current iteration just isn’t it.

The powerhouse challenged unsuccessfully for the Women’s World Championship Monday night, falling short against Rhea Ripley after Nia Jax returned and snuffed out her chances.

The match itself, while better than their offering at Payback, still wasn’t the kind of captivating contest between two young cornerstones of the women’s division that WWE likely envisioned. And that’s largely due to Rodriguez being a bland, smiling babyface.

It’s clear she has talent and skill, but her presentation isn’t clicking. Fans sat silent for far too long during this match, only coming up when they started wailing on each other. A world title match should have the fans on the edge of their seats with anticipation at the bell, but instead, silence.

Raquel could benefit from a heel turn, or something to refocus her and get beyond this “smiling babyface with a strong back” image. There really isn’t much for fans to grasp onto, and as a result, she’s floundering.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.