April 20, 2020
4/20 is a day that celebrates people getting high. 4/20/2020 will be remembered for something...bigger. For the first time in the history of Monday Night Raw, the longest-running weekly episodic show in television history, had five women's matches. Yes, I said...FIVE WOMEN'S MATCHES. There have been times in the past where we would barely get even ONE women's match on Raw, and when we did those matches would last a cup of coffee and not be respected by the WWE Universe. Times have clearly changed where fans now seem to look forward to what the women do moreso than tmany of the men. What's crazy about this historical evening is WWE Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch wasn't even there. But in the end, as much as The Man was missed, it didn't matter as folks were pleasenly suprised by what we got in what turned out to be the most female-heavy Raw of all time.
The first women's match of the evening was Shayna Baszler vs NXT upstart Indi Hartwell. Side note about Indi: she literally became a wrestler because she was inspired by the legendary encounter between Bayley and Sasha Banks for the NXT Women's Championship at the first NXT Takeover: Brooklyn. If any one match inspires you to become a wrestler, it's definitely that one. Fresh off her qualifying match last week for the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match on May 10th on the WWE Network, Shayna would end up winning very decisively and punishing the everlivng hell out of Indi after the match, including breaking her arm with a ladder. OUCH!
The next women's match would be a rematch from the previous Raw: Kairi Sane vs Nia Jax. Nia beat Kairi the previous week to qualify for this year's Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match, and Kairi wanted payback. Kairi tried her best but Nia was too much once again as Nia soundly defeated Kairi for the 2nd week in a row, building momentum for Money in the Bank in a couple of weeks.
The third women's match would end up being (to me) the most competitive and personal of the five that took place: Liv Morgan vs Ruby Riott. WWE did a good job setting up this match, speaking on the history of the Riott Squad, which also included Sarah Logan, who was released along with many others due to the coronavirus pandemic yet was mentioned a LOT on the program despite the release. Liv and Ruby held nothing back in a very back and forth encounter that saw Liv beat Ruby in a physical showdown. In my honest opinion, Liv has ridiculous upside about her and could be a massive star in the women's division down the line.
The fourth match of the night was a non-title bout between NXT Women's Champion Charlotte Flair and Kayden Carter. I'm glad WWE commentators made it clear that the first NXT match for Charlotte in an NXT arena will be against Mia Yim rather than having Charlotte vs Mia Yim right away, and obviously we will be getting Charlotte vs Io Shirai for the NXT Women's Championship down the line. Kayden held her own, but like everyone else before her...she bowed down to The Queen. Charlotte is on a different level right now as far as confidence goes, and she knows it.
And just when we thought "well..that's it for women's wrestling tonight" because no one expected to have that many women's wrestling matches...SUPRISE! We get one final women's match: Bianca Belair vs Santana Garrett. This was a nice way to end the night for the women in the ring with someone who I KNOW is gonna be huge for WWE in Bianca and someone who COULD be big in WWE if the cards are played right in Santana. Santana showed why she is highly respected in the indies but Bianca proved why she's the EST of WWE, showing off her combination of strengh, speed, agility, and overall confidence that you just can't teach. Either you have it or you don't, and Bianca has IT!
In addition to those matches, I have to give a shoutout to Asuka, Zelina Vega, Lana, and Charly Caruso who left their prints on this female-heavy RAW in their own right, especially Zelina. For women's wrestling fans, outside of no Raw Women's Champion, you couldn't have asked for a better night. While WWE has done a lot of questionable things when it comes to their women's wrestling past (and you can argue present as well) and during this quarantine period, this is something that women's wresting fans and fans of wrestling as a whole can look back on and go "This was a special night." And it was. Take a bow, women's wrestling fans. On April 20, 2020, the biggest weekly show in professional wrestling history belonged to you.
