8 Ups And 5 Downs From WWE Raw (Feb 10)

1. Still Not Feeling Ripley

Rhea Ripley NXT champion
WWE.com

Watching NXT, there’s no doubt that Rhea Ripley is a big deal. Her title win over Shayna Baszler was a huge deal, and she’s been built up as a big star in the making.

But it still feels like too much too fast by having her show up on Raw and challenge Charlotte Flair to use her Royal Rumble title shot on the NXT Women’s Championship. Ripley just won the title a couple months ago and has defended it once, against Toni Storm (who’s beaten Rhea multiple times).

This doesn’t feel like a dominant champ from NXT challenging the best WWE has to offer. It feels like a young, brash champion trying to step to a Flair. And yet, that’s not how it’s being presented. Had Ripley held the title for a few months and defeated a series of challengers in NXT, this might be firing on all cylinders.

But as of right now, it’s hard to get overly invested in this storyline, aside from the fact it will probably be a good match, and it could make a major star if WWE goes all-in on Rhea.

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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.