7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (Aug 22)

3. Butterflies? Or Outmatched?

We try not to be overly critical of wrestlers who are out there doing a job few (if any) of us could do on a nightly basis, but you also have to have some expectations of quality when watching a national wrestling program.

That said, Aliyah looked way out of place in her match against a returning Bayley Monday night. Raw was in Aliyah’s hometown of Toronto, and she was seen tearing up and waving to the crowd several times before the match, so it’s possible she had butterflies wrestling in front of her friends and family for the first time on the main roster.

But the match looked clunky and disjointed, with Aliyah getting a lot of offense throughout, but never looking like she was in control, and never looking smooth as she moved from one manoeuvre to another. She did get to nail Bayley with a modified Stratusfaction bulldog, which was nice, but she quickly fell to the Role Model.

It’s a shame for both women, as Bayley deserved a more notable return match after 14 months out of the ring, and Aliyah deserved an opportunity to shine in front of her hometown.