STEP DOWN: Charlotte
WWE’s insistence that everyone coming through their doors start at the bottom is why the product is so shallow and, admittedly, mind-numbingly boring at times. Charlotte is the daughter of Ric Flair. She’s also one of the best – if not THE best – women’s worker in the company right now, but perhaps more importantly, she’s the daughter of the single greatest pro wrestler to have ever laced up a pair of boots.
But WWE brought her to Raw, and booked her to lose her first match.
What does that say about Charlotte? What does that say about the NXT Women’s Championship? Simple – it says she couldn’t beat a woman who hasn’t done anything relevant in several years.
Let’s not forget, the entire point of her being on Raw was to promote NXT Takeover. Why are we watching that show, when the champions can’t beat glorified jobbers on “real” programming? Because it’s better than Raw, that’s why.
WWE wants everyone to start from scratch, and work their way up. Ideally it creates an attachment between the star and the fans, because they feel they’ve watched them grow from nothing into future champions like Bray Wyatt. It’s an idea; maybe not a good one, but it’s the idea they’re using to book most of today’s programming. It’s why Hideo Itami isn’t Kenta. Why Finn Balor isn’t Prince Devitt, and Kevin Owens isn’t Kevin Steen. It’s less about muting their past accomplishments, and more about establishing a connection that sells merchandise.
Charlotte should have been brought in as the next Trish Stratus. She should have been brought in, with or without her daddy, and beaten every woman on the roster for the next year. Her and AJ Lee could be Trish and Lita. Paige could have been Victoria. Unless they seriously change their formula, they’ll all be as underutilized as Natalya within a year.
And there’s my weekly rant about how terrible WWE is at booking women.
