6 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE Raw (June 15)

by Scott Carlson

1. Much More Like It

Asuka Nia Jaxx
WWE.com

The Raw Women’s Championship match between Asuka and Nia Jax at Backlash was a somewhat plodding affair that meandered to a double count-out. It was a disappointing PPV match.

Monday, the two women had a rematch that looked like they were shot out of a cannon. Asuka kept firing off kicks, strikes and flying armbars at Jax, who threw short clotheslines, punches and a bit Samoan Drop to keep knocking the champ down a peg or two. It was a more entertaining and engaging battle.

Even the finish – Jax getting frustrated and shoving the referee, leading to John Cone almost calling for the bell and electing to fast-count Nia on a rollup – was better. Asuka got the win, but you could argue that Jax was cheated (and you could further argue that Nia had it coming for shoving the ref).

Now, if they could maintain that speed and intensity and let Asuka get the clean win she needs to cap off this feud, we’d be grateful.

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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.