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WWE promised that its return would bring shocks and surprises, and after a fantastic Money in the Bank pay-per-view, last night's episode of RAW followed suit.
With Keith Lee making his return to TV, Karrion Kross being called up from NXT, and then Goldberg challenging Bobby Lashley, it was a stacked night of entertainment.
Nikki A.S.H. rounded off the show by cashing in her Money in the Bank contract on Charlotte Flair to become RAW Women's Champion for the first time. A.S.H. won the contract just 24 hours prior and decided to cash in on Charlotte after she had already endured a match with Rhea Ripley.
It was a surprise that A.S.H. was able to cash in her contract successfully so soon after her Money in the Bank victory, and here are just five reasons why it happened.
#5. WWE wanted to round off this week's episode of RAW with a huge shock
As mentioned already, Keith Lee made his return to WWE TV whilst Goldberg was the big shock of the night when he came out to challenge WWE Champion, Bobby Lashley.
WWE had to follow through on the surprises that had been promised. After the RAW Women's Championship rematch was announced, it was clear that either Becky Lynch was returning or Nikki A.S.H. was cashing in.
Earlier in the night, Charlotte fanned the flames that surrounded Becky Lynch's return when she commented on the latter's chants from the WWE Universe and The Man then responded on Twitter.
Of course, this was just another tease from the former RAW Women's Champion, which meant that the only other option that WWE had was to allow A.S.H. to successfully cash in her Women's Championship. The WWE Universe wasn't expecting it since A.S.H. wasn't considered to be on the same level as Charlotte, which meant that there was a huge pop for the star when her music hit.
Flair had already endured a Women's Championship match against Rhea Ripley and was then attacked after the DQ loss, and A.S.H. only had to deliver a splash to secure the win and her first RAW Women's Championship.
#4. WWE wanted to pull the trigger on Nikki's character whilst it's still fresh
Nikki changed her name from Cross to A.S.H. a few weeks ago on WWE Raw when she confirmed that her new character was "Almost a Superhero." A.S.H. has since been able to secure the win that got her into the Money in the Bank ladder match before winning the contract as well.
It's obvious that WWE wants to pull the trigger on this character to have something fresh in the Women's Division. There are many women there at present who don't have clean-cut characters. But now Monday Night RAW has Alexa Bliss and Nikki A.S.H., who have two of the best characters in the company.
A.S.H's story has also become quite the inspiration for the younger members of the WWE Universe since she has believed in herself and her own idea and been able to follow through on it to become Women's Champion.
#3. It was time for another WWE Superstar to step into the Women's Championship picture
Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair have been feuding over the RAW Women's Championship for several months on WWE TV. Flair was able to win back the Championship at Money in the Bank, but Ripley was then granted a rematch last night on RAW.
WWE appears to have booked themselves into a corner with the Women's Division once again as there are no other women on RAW who are seen as challengers for the title right now.
That means that this could have become a situation where Ripley and Flair would go back and forth with the title for several months, very similar to the feud between Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair back in 2016.
The only way to allow another woman to step into this feud and still have both women looking strong was for A.S.H. to cash in her contract and become Champion. Now the whole storyline narrative has changed completely, since both Ripley and Flair will be seen as the challengers.
#2. WWE sees merchandise opportunities for Nikki's new character
Nikki's victory at WWE's Money in the Bank pay-per-view was quite the surprise. But following the show, it was revealed by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer that Vince McMahon was actually very high on the star's new character.
Meltzer explained that McMahon saw merchandise opportunities as well as community outreach potential for this new character.
“Vince loves the gimmick and feels that she has opened up a world of opportunities to sell more merchandise and for her to do some community outreach with the kids. She took the initiative and she got rewarded last night.”
A.S.H. has been able to create a character that the WWE Universe can get behind so WWE has decided to give her the ball and let her run with it. As The RAW Women's Champion, Nikki A.S.H. would have much more pull with the WWE Universe and it also shows the faith that WWE has in her new character to push her so quickly and against someone of Charlotte Flair's caliber.
#1. Nikki A.S.H. is helping Charlotte Flair to become a 16-time WWE Women's Champion
Charlotte Flair noted on last night's episode of Monday Night RAW that she is now an 11-time WWE Women's Champion. That total only adds together Flair's five RAW Women's Championship, five SmackDown Women's Championship, and Divas Championship reigns.
The former Champion also has two NXT Women's Championship reigns and her Women's Tag Team Championship victory, which makes her a 14-time Champion overall. It has been noted several times that WWE are looking to allow Charlotte to be the woman to finally break her father's long-standing 16-time World Championship record.
The Queen would now become a 15-time Champion if she is able to win the Championship back and is then just one reign away from her father's and John Cena's record.
Nikki A.S.H's Money in the Bank cash-in last night on RAW would have only served to help Charlotte because the two women could now step into a feud and face off again at SummerSlam, where Flair would become a 15-time Champion overall.
