4 reasons why the RAW women's division is in such a sad state

WWE RAW has some very fine female superstars like Ronda Rousey, Ember Moon, Natalya, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Dana Brooke, Mickie James, Ruby Riott and Sarah Logan. But still, the feuds that we have been getting in the women's roster have been stale to say the least.

The same rehash of Ronda Rousey and Natalya vs Alexa Bliss, Mickie James and Alicia Fox, Sasha Banks and Bayley vs The Riott Squad, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan, Ember moon floating around somewhere in between, and Dana Brooke taking care of her secretarial tasks at Titus Worldwide.

Even with the much hyped women's revolution and Evolution, the upcoming first ever women only pay per view, it cannot be ignored that WWE is not using its women superstars to their full potential.

Majority of the women's roster now are comprised of NXT call-up talents. If you have followed their career at NXT, a question of how this roster reached such a pitiful state with such a wealth of talent is a really valid question. The reasons for this include wasted opportunities, hasty decisions, and overall bad storytelling.

SmackDown Live on the other hand has been able to generate enough viewer interest around the Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch feud. Even though the audience is booing the face champion and cheering the heel challenger, there is no question that they are invested in Becky Lynch's pursuit of the SmackDown Live Women's Title.

How long they would stay interested if Charlotte keeps getting pushed in spite of the fan backlash, is another discussion for another day. But overall, SmackDown Live's women's roster is far ahead of the RAW women's roster in terms of match quality and story telling. So lets take a look at how the RAW roster reached its current not so great state.

---

#1 The Sasha and Bayley storyline

The Sasha and Bayley storyline might be the most misused one ever

Sasha and Bayley have had some of the best women's matches ever while they were in NXT. They even had the very first Iron-woman match which Bayley won. Much was expected when they arrived on the main roster.

Sasha spent some time hot potatoing the women's title with Charlotte, while Bayley went from one meaningless match up to another. Then finally it seemed that they were headed somewhere when cracks began to appear in their friendship, and Bayley got a huge cheer when she stood up to Sasha and finally beat her down.

The stage was all set for an emotional clash at the next PPV. Somehow that didn't happen. Then came the counseling sessions by Dr. Kirby, and one emotional confrontation later, they were back to being best friends, calling themselves of all things, 'The Boss & Hug connection'.

What could have been an enthralling storyline just went kaput. Now they have weekly meaningless confrontations, one on one, or as a team with Riott Squad, and are fast headed towards nowhere.

And if the leaked Evolution match card is true, they will not even be fighting for the soon to be introduced women's tag team titles. It's anybody's guess what the WWE Creative team has in store for them, or even if they have anything.

#2 Excessive focus on Alexa Bliss

Alexa has been in the title picture for majority of the time she has spent on the main roster

Right from the time she landed on the women's roster, Alexa has always been in the women's title picture irrespective of the brand she was on. She is a good looking woman and maybe cuts the best promo in the women's division. But that's about it.

She is not that great in the ring, and her continued presence in the title scene has robbed other more skilled wrestlers off their opportunity. Rumours suggest she will lose her rematch at Hell in a Cell, and hopefully she will move on to something else while others get a crack at the championship gold.

#3 The Rousey problem

WWE might have pulled the trigger a bit too soon on Ronda

Ronda Rousey, a legend in UFC made the cross over to the pro wrestling world during WrestleMania 34 and by SummerSlam 2018, she has already been crowned the RAW women's champion.

With that decision, WWE has landed themselves in a pickle. Ronda, although much improved from her first bout at WrestleMania 34, is still not a finished product. She looks incredible doing what she knows - punches, judo throws, and her favourite armbar submission. But when it comes to grappling and bouncing off the ropes, it feels like she is a bit unsure of herself.

Her matches so far have been short, and only slightly little more than squashes. The way WWE has built her up, it will take someone special to end her title reign, and currently there are none booked as credible contenders.

So Rousey will have to keep on having short squash matches while she improves her wrestling skills till WWE builds someone else up to take the title from her. This essentially kills off any buzz around the RAW women's title matches, and harms the women's division.

#4 Lack of good heels

Too few credible heels

The RAW roster has many credible face superstars - Ronda, Natalya, Ember Moon, Sasha, Bayley, Dana, but lacks good heels. Alexa has played her part as a chicken sh** heel, and Mickie James as well as Alicia Fox have been acting as her posse.

Riott Squad who made an explosive debut on the main roster have been relegated to near irrelevance. Good feuds need good credible heels, the type who look threatening enough to actually defeat the face superstars.

A heel Nia Jax had that quality. Ruby Riott or Sarah Logan if pushed properly can fill that role. But currently there are none. This makes it difficult to come up with engrossing storylines.

For instance, see what SmackDown Live has done with Becky Lynch. RAW needs someone of that quality as an opposing force to the current champion.