6 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (17 July - Review)

5. At Least The Face/Heel Dynamic Is Correct

Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler having a rivalry was probably an inevitability in WWE. Best friends have to feud eventually in this company.

But at least it seems like they’re getting the fact that Rousey is the villain here, not Baszler. Shayna’s promo after turning on her tag partner to cost them the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship at Money in the Bank seemed to paint Ronda as the entitled, spoiled superstar, but you never know with WWE if that was meant to be a compliment.

Monday’s interaction seemed to clear things up, with Baszler squashing Nikki Cross and then being confronted by Rousey in the crowd, who put herself over as better than everyone, calling Shayna “a knockoff version of me.” And the crowd dutifully booed her. They then cheered Baszler when she challenged Ronda to meet her in the ring – which she demurred.

The two are on a collision course for SummerSlam, where hopefully Shayna will finally get her main roster solo career back on track after eons of false starts. And Rousey can take a break, either finished with WWE entirely, or remove herself from the spotlight and see if absence will make the fans’ hearts grow fonder.