6 Ups And 6 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (May 21)

2. Steph The Puppetmaster

On one hand, you could argue that Stephanie McMahon acting like the devil on both Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey’s shoulder helped turn a friendly challenge into a serious rivalry in one fell swoop.

But on the other hand, Stephanie being able to quickly and easily manipulate both women made her look like an evil genius and both women weak-minded competitors who bought her babble hook, line and sinker.

McMahon sowed seeds of discontent between the two during the contract signing, with both women scowling more and more as the Raw commissioner presented hypothetical viewpoints against the other. Finally, Nia blew up and took the bait. That led to the two in a face-to-face, which really didn’t go much further.

This same thing could have been accomplished with GM Kurt Angle asking Rousey how she planned to get the armbar on Jax, only for Nia to interrupt and said it wasn’t possible. Things could have escalated to a staredown, and the wrestlers would have created the tension, rather than Stephanie the puppetmaster.