5 things WWE RAW got right this week: Karrion Kross defeats former champion; Nikki A.S.H. suffers setback
Bobby Lashley did not seem interested in Goldberg’s challenge on WWE RAW this week. While The All Mighty was ready to take out the Hall of Famer last week, he was not ready to defend his WWE Championship against Goldberg.
Instead, the WWE Champion defeated Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander in a handicap match to make a statement. Meanwhile, the new RAW Women’s Champion did not have such a good first outing on this week’s show.
Nikki A.S.H. looked to make her first major title victory more memorable, but ended up suffering a setback instead. Drew McIntyre taught Veer a lesson and also took down Jinder Mahal’s lawyer to build on his new rivalry.
Take a look at the five things WWE got right on this week’s episode of RAW.
#5 Nikki A.S.H. celebrated her victory on WWE RAW before being taken down by Charlotte Flair
The new WWE RAW Women’s Champion Nikki A.S.H. opened up this week’s show. She addressed her victory over Charlotte Flair last week and said that she was not afraid of failure anymore.
Nikki was soon interrupted by Flair who came out and called her a disgrace as champion. The Queen said she would get her rematch at WWE SummerSlam before Rhea Ripley came out to the middle.
The former RAW Women’s Champion claimed that she deserved a shot at Nikki and her title instead of Flair. Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville came out to announce that the RAW Women’s Championship would be defended in a Triple Threat Match at SummerSlam.
Flair then challenged Nikki to a match later in the night and attacked Ripley before being taken out by the RAW Women’s Champion.
Flair played the perfect heel character against Nikki in the main event of the night. She threw her opponent around and tried to rip off her mask to humiliate her. She taunted the WWE Universe and questioned whether they were willing to cheer for Nikki as their champion.
Nikki A.S.H. fought back with some big moves and went on a roll. She nearly picked up the victory with a crossbody, but Flair rolled her up for the pin. The Queen mocked the champion before Nikki challenged her to another match next week. Flair ended the night with a big boot to Nikki.
Nikki A.S.H. has taken the RAW women’s division by storm over the past few weeks. She hasn't been the best in the ring, but has enough charisma to come across as a top champion. A match against Flair and Rhea Ripley will show how much she can withstand on a big stage like SummerSlam.
WWE could have avoided giving her a loss in her first match as the champion. However, the storyline could help her pick up a huge underdog victory at SummerSlam to cement herself as a top superstar on RAW.