WWE Raw: 10 Things You Might Have Missed (May 9)
7. The Charlotte-Paige Match Was Pointless
Charlotte and Ric Flair met with Shane McMahon backstage in an attempt to get him to reverse Stephanie's edict that "The Nature Boy" be banned from ringside at Extreme Rules. Though Shane tried to be genial, he not only upheld Stephanie's ruling, but he announced that Ric would be banned from ringside for Charlotte's Raw match with Paige, as well.
The match, which was very good, saw Natalya sit ringside to provide some (at times strange) commentary. When Paige couldn't get the job done, though, Natalya jumped up on the apron to distract Charlotte. That brought out Ric, who was looking for a fight with Natalya, which then led to Shane McMahon and a host of referees hitting the ring. Shane had the refs remove Flair from the arena, and in the distraction, Paige rolled Charlotte up.
It's hard to tell exactly what statement WWE was trying to make with this match. Had Charlotte won the bout without her father there, it would have set the message that she's more than just Ric's inference. Had Paige won without Ric, it would have meant that Natalya has a real shot at beating Charlotte in a fair fight. Instead, the stipulation was discarded and Paige only won due to confusion. The finish had no bearing on the bout at Extreme Rules - especially since that's a submission match that can't end on a cheap roll-up.