7 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (12 Aug - Results & Review)

1. Another Pointless Contenders Match

The women’s tag team division has gotten a lot of attention in recent months, with Raw establishing a new heel stable, turning another one face, and even partnering up other wrestlers to form makeshift groups.

But that attention doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a rousing success. There’s a ton of potential in a babyface Damage CTRL – especially with Iyo Sky being locked in when in the ring – and the newly (and unfortunately) named Pure Fusion Collective is your basic no-nonsense heel trio.

So, why did their number one contender’s match on Raw fall short? The action itself was fine, with Iyo once again stealing the show, but it’s incredibly difficult to become ensconced when you see the tag champs Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn sitting at ringside, telegraphing the finish from a mile away.

And sure enough, Zoey Stark accidentally kicked Fyre, leading to a DQ finish with the tag champs attacking everyone and standing tall, acting like they outsmarted everyone… because no one could possibly see what’s coming with a triple threat, which was made official for next week.

It just rendered that entire match pointless, made the champs look stupid, and didn’t really generate interest in a future title match.