8 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (19 June - Review)

Downs…

4. Still Not Caring

Rhea Ripley Natalya
WWE.com

Sorry WWE, but no matter how many times you throw Natalya on camera having an existential crisis and then battering her, it’s not going to make fans care.

This is to say nothing about Nattie the person, but as a character, she doesn’t generate any interest or real sympathy. If she did, you would be able to hear it from the fans. Instead, the reaction as Rhea Ripley demolished her was more in awe of Mami than anything else.

The camera staying on Ripley and all but ignoring Natalya didn’t help matters, as that showed clearly who the focus was meant to be on – and it wasn’t the victim.

It’s not clear what – if anything – WWE could do to reboot Nattie, but this “doubting herself” veteran character isn’t going to click. If she throws her hands up and leaves for a spell, no one is going to be rushing to the door to stop her.

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Contributor
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.