Reviewing the Raw Women's Division's 1st Post-Release Showcase

This week's edition of Raw comes just days after the Women's Traditional Elimination Match was set in stone, but it also comes just days after WWE's latest massive batch of releases, which saw 10 women let go from WWE. The releases effected all three shows; SmackDown had their first show after the fire sale. It was Raw's turn, and it was quite eventful for the red brand's women.

The women's action began backstage, as Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville addressed the women's roster regarding Survivor Series, which included the announcement that all five members of Team Raw (Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Carmella, Queen Zelina, and Liv Morgan) will all compete against each other in a five-way match, with the winner receiving a future opportunity at the Raw Women's Championship. This drove the other three women--Doudrop, Dana Brooke, and Nikki A.S.H.--to speak out. Dana stated that she had been looked over for too long in response to Liv's statement that she had been waiting for an opportunity. Nikki mentioned that she is a former Raw Women's Champion, but the biggest outcry came from Doudrop, as she vented over Bianca getting opportunities despite losing multiple times to Becky Lynch, adding that she should go to the back of the line.

The five-way bout took place, with Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch on commentary. Right before Bianca's entrance, she was encountered by Doudrop, who continued her rant from earlier, now adding that Bianca had only been on Raw for a few weeks and was getting title shots despite losing. Doudrop said that she was speaking for all of the other women, only for Bianca to cut her off and state that Doudrop was speaking for herself before making her entrance. The bout was contentious; we saw teamwork from Zelina and Carmella, though even they realized that it was every woman for herself. At the tail end, Bianca had Zelina on her shoulders, kicking away Liv before delivering the KOD to Zelina. However, just as Bianca had Zelina pinned, Doudrop suddenly appeared and pulled Bianca out of the ring before attacking her, while giving an evil stare at the object of her fury. Carmella attempted to pin her ally, only to end up rolled up by Liv for the three-count! Liv Morgan will now receive an eventual one-on-one title opportunity against Becky Lynch!

Thoughts: To say that Liv Morgan is long overdue for this is an understatement. Here is a woman who has now been in WWE for seven years, and after spending four of them in NXT, she gets called up as one-third of the Riott Squad. Her main roster tenure has seen Liv get the rug pulled from under her time and time and time again. The Riott Squad never get a shot at the instilled Women's Tag Team Championship, and the Draft separated them. We go months without seeing Liv, and then she returns with a new gimmick and an angle as Lana's ex-lover, but that gets kiboshed. She gets reunited with Ruby Riott in 2020, that gets kiboshed. Liv gets a huge PPV win over Carmella, but the build from that? You guessed it. Kiboshed. They owed Liv this moment. This will be her first one-on-one title shot ever.

So clearly, Doudrop turned heel with her attack towards Bianca, and she appeared on Raw Talk to address her actions during the five-way bout. Doudrop praised Bianca's abilities and stated that she was deserving of a title opportunity, but afterwards, the newly turned villainess added that she was more deserving than Bianca. She later mentioned that while both women were cheated out of their matches (Bianca against Becky and Doudrop against Queen Zelina), it doesn't give Bianca a right to have chance after chance at the title, mainly because Doudrop didn't get rematches herself, adding that Bianca should get to the back of the line.

Thoughts: I had wanted Piper Niven to turn heel for over a year, and her call up to the main roster saw her paired up with the villainous Eva Marie, but even so, Piper (currently renamed Doudrop) wasn't really a heel--wasn't even close to being one, so it was only a matter of time before Doudrop had enough of Eva's shenanigans. Doudrop defeated Eva twice, though she ended up impacted by the releases, as Eva Marie was one of the 10 women released. Looking back, Doudrop's heel turn began with her rants about Bianca getting another chance at a title opportunity despite failing to defeat Becky Lynch four times. We saw her look intensely peeved after Bianca brushed her off for the second time, which inevitably ended up leading to Doudrop attacking Bianca.

One has to believe that a grudge match will happen as soon as next week, but it shouldn't end there. Doudrop's newfound villainous side should really emerge at Survivor Series, and I can see the scenario. Team Raw is closing in on possible victory, Bianca's the only one left against, let's say Shayna, but out of nowhere, the evil Doudrop attacks Bianca and costs not only her, but her own brand the match. One thing I know: sabotaging your own brand pride for your own personal vendetta is the most villainous act a competitor could commit, and it would completely turn Doudrop (who should be back to Piper Niven as a heel) into a very vicious villainess.

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Also, check out my story about the first SmackDown following the releases here:

Reviewing the SmackDown Women's Division's 1st Post-Release Showcase