How Ruby Riott has become an important piece of WWE Raw’s women’s division

Ruby Riott, one of Raw’s newest acquisitions in the Superstar Shake-up, has cemented her status as one to watch on Monday nights with her work against the elite female talent the brand has to offer.

Last week’s Last Chance Gauntlet match in the main event of Monday Night Raw was supposed to serve as a showcase of the brand’s loaded women’s division. Of course, it only included those that hadn’t already qualified for next month’s Money in the the Bank Ladder match, but it was still stockpiled with star power.

The match wasn’t as well-executed as it could have been thanks to time constraints and poor planning with most of the eliminations occurring in rapid succession. That said, it did feature a breakout performance from Ruby Riott, who beat Bayley, Dana Brooke and Mickie James before falling to ultimate victor Sasha Banks.

Riott’s run in the Gauntlet earned praise from many members of the WWE Universe, including SmackDown Live Superstar (and longtime rival from NXT) Sonya Deville.

https://twitter.com/SonyaDevilleWWE/status/1001299190457217024

Even in defeat, Riott came across like a star, though it was far from the first time she has had an impressive outing in her time on WWE’s main roster.

Since arriving on Raw in the 2018 Superstar Shake-up, she and the rest of The Riott Squad have been at odds with the on-again, off-again duo of Banks and Bayley. Riott has been given the chance to shine in singles matches with both former Raw Women’s champions lately, beating them both on separate occasions.

Not only did she emerge victorious, but Riott proved she was on the same level as Banks and Bayley by pushing them to their limits and pulling moves out of her arsenal we hadn’t seen from her before (at least in WWE). The Raw Women’s Championship scene is currently busy with the likes of Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey, but Riott’s time in title picture should be coming sooner rather than later.

The former Heidi Lovelace is no stranger to competing for championship gold. After all, she was involved in a lengthy feud with then-SmackDown Women’s champion Charlotte Flair that culminated at March’s Fastlane pay-per-view, where they had a heck of a match for the title.

Riott’s recent rise on Raw is slightly surprising if only because she was never aggressively pushed down in NXT. Sure, she was in action on a few TakeOver shows and battled the likes of Ember Moon and Asuka, but she never had that one memorable match that defined her as an up-and-coming Superstar.

Then again, the individuals who don’t amount to much success in NXT are usually the ones who overachieve on the main roster. Look no further than Elias, who was an afterthought on the black-and-yellow brand yet has been a revelation on Raw since last year.

It’s also interesting that Riott has found her footing as a heel in WWE despite being a better babyface in NXT. She, along with Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan, appeared to be miscast as characters from the get-go and didn’t seem to have chemistry as stablemates originally, but they have since formed quite the cohesive unit and shouldn’t be broken up any time soon.

With that in mind, WWE should continue to showcase Riott as much as possible in the months ahead. As noted, it isn’t likely she will be getting a shot at the strap any time soon, but that doesn’t mean she should be directionless in the meantime.

In addition to resuming her rivalry with Banks and Bayley, Riott can set her sights on the likes of Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, Jax and Moon and hopefully work her way up to title contention by the end of the summer.

As stacked as Raw’s women’s division is right now, it is in desperate need of a new lead heel. Bliss occupied that top spot for over a year, but by WrestleMania 34, it was high time she stepped aside and let a fresh face surpass her.

Granted, it looks like Jax might be returning to her roots as a heel in her feud with Rousey, but to be honest, Riott would be a smarter choice for that role. Her string of solid matches and above-average promos are enough evidence that she belongs at the forefront of the division and that she can carry it on her shoulders.

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Regardless of whether she has been on the Backlash Kickoff show or in the main event of Raw, Riott’s increased presence on programming is no coincidence; officials are starting to take notice of her untapped potential and clearly view her as an important piece of the women’s wrestling scene on Monday nights.