8 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (20 Jan - Results & Review)

2. Catching A Little Lightning

WWE Raw Bayley Nia Jax
WWE

Once upon a time, Bayley and Nia Jax had a heated rivalry in NXT that saw the underdog champion overcome the bruising challenger.

Lately, their rivalry hasn’t had nearly the same juice, but that didn’t stop them from pulling off an energetic, fun match on Monday night. The match started slowly and awkwardly, plus it had the presence of Roxanne Perez at ringside looming over it, giving the impression that the NXT standout was going to cost Bayley the bout. But once Perez was hauled off by security, the match took off.

Wrestling with an injured arm, Bayley kept firing away at Nia with clotheslines, elbow drops, chop blocks, and an apron sunset flip into the post. Bayley even got her own Annihilator at one point, but Jax fired back, targeting the injured shoulder and arm with a shoulderbreaker and corner splash before finishing the Role Model off with a flurry: a pop-up Samoan Drop, senton, and Annihilator for the win.

While not a classic, the match managed to break through with an apathetic crowd and produced some solid action in the final third, making it worthwhile viewing. Jax and Rhea Ripley’s brawl afterward (setting up a Saturday Night’s Main Event title match) was done well, further ungluing the fans.

Despite the loss, hopefully Bayley can find her footing on Raw after floundering a bit on SmackDown.

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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.