6 Ups And 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (March 25)

3. Pointless Challenge

ronda rousey raw
WWE.com

For once, we have to agree with Ronda Rousey’s “kayfabe-breaking” comment about a “BS gimmick.” What was the point to the Beat the Clock Challenge to kickoff Raw?

Nothing was on the line. There was no advantage or reward given to the winner of the challenge. And no, “building momentum” doesn’t count as an answer.

Basically, we got a match that only served to show that 2/3 of the Riott Squad can be beaten in less than 90 seconds. That literally was the only point of the three mini-matches, with Rousey toppling Sarah Logan in 1:25, Charlotte Flair failing to beat Ruby Riott, and Becky Lynch defeating Liv Morgan with seconds to spare.

If you’re going to book something like that, come up with something – anything – to present to the winner as a reward. Make it mean something. Otherwise, why wouldn’t Flair walk out on the match rather than risk injury before her main event title match?

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Contributor

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.