7 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Raw (2 March - Results & Review)

5. A Fighting Champion

WWE Raw AJ Lee
WWE

AJ Lee’s Intercontinental Championship win definitely carries a “jury still out” vibe. On one hand, she absolutely deserves it after coming back after a decade away from wrestling. On the other, she hasn’t exactly been crisp in the ring since returning, though it’s only been three months.

Sticking what essentially is the “workhorse title” for the women’s division on someone who has wrestled three times since September is quite the move.

So, why is this an “up”? For starters, Lee’s vulnerability at the beginning felt genuine, and it helped connect with her. Second (and more significantly), AJ pledged to be a fighting champion, which hopefully means that the six-woman gauntlet match next week won’t be for a title shot five weeks after that bout at WrestleMania. That would completely undermine her message.

Lee’s remarks harkened back to a promo a couple of weeks ago when she name-dropped a few women’s names, setting the stage for several of them to come out of the woodwork to challenge the new champ.

This could bode well, or it could be a disaster. For this week, positive marks.

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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.