8 Ups And 5 Downs From WWE Raw (Nov 25)

1. No-Sell Charlotte

Whoever gave Charlotte Flair advice that she shouldn’t sell her opponents’ offense did her a huge disservice.

In recent months, Flair has almost altogether stopped selling large swaths of her opponents’ moves, absorbing chops, kicks and strikes and just countering with her own. While this obviously can work well in matches, when you do it too often, it can take away your enjoyment of the match – unless that’s your character’s entire gimmick (like Braun Strowman).

This was really on display Monday night, when Charlotte squared off against Asuka, in what should have been a great back-and-forth match. Instead, Flair did the opposite of her famous father and wouldn’t sell Asuka’s chops, punches or kicks. She absorbed a spinning backfist and immediately booted Asuka down. She threw Asuka – a woman undefeated for more than two years in NXT/WWE – around like a ragdoll.

Yes, Charlotte actually did sell for a bit in the latter stages of the match, but by then, this writer was taken completely out of the match watching Flair do her Undertaker/Road Warriors routine. Only Asuka’s deadly green mist and rollup was enough to stop Charlotte’s onslaught.

For the record, Ronda Rousey, a legit badass in combat sports, sold more as Raw Women’s Champion that Flair has in recent weeks.