6 Ups & 6 Downs from WWE Raw (23 June - Results & Review)

2. Woof

Here’s hoping Asuka has her working boots on for Saturday, because she’s going to be wrestling for two at Night of Champions.

Jade Cargill defeated Roxanne Perez to advance to the finals of the Queen of the Ring tournament against the Empress of Tomorrow, a first-time match that could surprise, or it could terrify.

Monday’s semifinal match was, erm, not good. Despite having the look, the charisma, and the mic skills, Jade only seems to have it in the ring in flashes. Her Raw match against Roxanne showed the wires quite a bit. The match was clunky and looked like a struggle – but not in the “two wrestlers having a match” way.

The finishing sequence probably was the worst, with Jade’s pump kick barely grazing Perez, then Cargill getting lost between whether to go for a second powerbomb or to transition Roxanne for a Jaded, and finally she slipped her boot under Perez’s shoulder, so the referee couldn’t count the pin until she practically moved the foot herself.

Before anyone comes screaming out of the woodwork, this column isn’t cheerleading against Jade – quite the opposite. It would be fantastic if she were mint in the ring. But she spent months training at the Performance Center before debuting, and that didn’t help, and she spent months shadowing Bianca Belair, and it doesn’t look like anything rubbed off on her.

Maybe WWE is charging ahead with the Jade experiment and giving her Queen of the Ring, and maybe she will surprise and rise to the occasion. But this more and more feels like a Jey Uso in the women’s division situation: all the intangibles… and then the bell rings. Still, the fans eat it up, so who’s to say this criticism is warranted?