8 Ups And 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Nov 12)

6. Riott Finally Does Something

riott squad
WWE.com

Ever since coming over from SmackDown, the Riott Squad has done little more than perform juvenile pranks backstage and serve as cannon fodder in the ring.

Monday, we finally got some substance behind the pranks and improving in-ring action. Ruby Riott cut a promo about breaking Natalya’s sunglasses, which belonged to her late father, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. It isn’t the first time a deceased family member has been used as fuel for a feud, but this seems to be more about getting Ruby and the Riott Squad over than Nattie, who has been around for a decade.

And Ruby did a nice job on the mic, talking about Neidhart and how she turned happy memories into nightmares. And when the turn in the promo came, Riott talked about enjoying everything she did, and how she didn’t go far enough. When Nattie jumped Ruby from behind, they trio overcame her and hit her with – what else? – a Hart Attack.

One promo won’t set them on a rocket to the top, but it was good to see a little real character development rather than just some mindless actions.

Advertisement
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.