6 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (April 19)

1. Charlotte Establishes Her Role

Charlotte Flair continued her descent into heeldom on Monday night, talking about how she was entitled to respect, that she herself is the opportunity for women, that she was robbed of a WrestleMania match, and that she can beat Rhea Ripley and Asuka at the same time.

But the in-ring promo also did something else: It helped flesh out the characterization of Ripley, who has been under-developed in her short time on the main roster. With Asuka in the ring, Rhea confided that she felt that the Empress would defeat Charlotte, a simple nod toward her Mania opponent that given how obnoxious Flair is would put Ripley in more of a tweener role. (A heel would have said she doesn’t care who wins, because they’ll both be softened up for her.)

And later, Ripley interfered to cost Charlotte her match against Asuka, but left the Empress alone, seemingly targeting the outright heel.

So adding Charlotte to the mix doesn’t just seem to be good for the overall future matches and program for the Raw Women’s Championship, but it’s also fleshing out character dynamics.