8 Ups And 6 Downs From WWE Evolution

3. Bella, Rousey Do No Harm

ronda rousey nikki bella
WWE.com

The best you could hope for with Nikki Bella challenging Rowdy Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women’s Championship was a perfectly serviceable match that closed out the night on a high note. The floor was to not do any harm – to the competitors, to the title and to the PPV.

Fortunately, the women stayed with what they knew, as Nikki relied on a couple cheapshots and copious interfering from Brie Bella to temporarily overcome Ronda’s strength advantage. But that didn’t last long, as Rousey would eventually take out both sisters and put Nikki down with an armbar.

Rousey is clearly improving out there, but it doesn’t look like she’s learning to work a traditional WWE match. That’s probably good in some ways, so she retains her uniqueness and is truer to herself. But you’ve got to think at some point she’ll do a normal hiptoss or suplex. Still, she’s obviously growing as a performer.

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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.