Wrestling Forward: WWE Elimination Chamber Shows Riott Squad’s Importance

Today’s “Wrestling Forward” column is on the lighter side, as it examines Tessa Blanchard’s awesome Friday, Jessicka Havok’s debut on Women of Wrestling, and the Riott Squad’s huge change to make another impression at WWE Elimination Chamber.

Since debuting on Raw in November 2017, the Riott Squad have become one of WWE‘s most important factions, and their value to the promotion will be made clear at tonight’s Elimination Chamber Pay Per View.

Not only will Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan compete inside the Elimination Chamber structure for a shot at the new Women’s Tag Team Championships, but Ruby Riott will have her first Pay Per View singles match against Ronda Rousey.

While some have panned Rousey vs. Riott as a predictable match, given that Rousey will almost certainly main event WrestleMania 35 in a Triple Threat match for the Raw Women’s Championship against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, criticizing this title bout is completely unfair.

Last year, Ruby faced Charlotte at Fastlane in a match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship that arguably stole the show from a Six-Pack Challenge main event and a hidden gem between Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev. Riott’s early “Riott Kick” nearly caught Charlotte off guard, and she gave “The Queen” everything she could handle before ultimately falling short against one of WWE’s most dominant wrestlers.

Ruby’s excellent heel work has shined through in her work with Ronda this past fall, and their Elimination Chamber match should be that much better. Rousey’s matches with Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks, Natalya, Bayley, and others have ranged from “good” to “amazing”, so Ruby vs. Ronda will undoubtedly be worth the watch.

Meanwhile, Logan and Morgan are in a match of equal importance. The new Women’s Tag Team Championships are a HUGE deal. The team that wins them tonight will go down in history as the “first” winners and will be able to set the standard for the new championships.

So while Morgan and Logan are the underdogs in this match in comparison to Sasha and Bayley, Billie and Peyton, and Nia and Tamina, they, like Ruby, have a chance to make quite the impression. Few superstars have improved as much as Morgan and Logan over the past year, with Liv gaining plenty of fans from her commitment to her character and no-holds-barred selling.

The Riott Squad, whether it’s been feuds with Rousey and Nattie or Sasha and Bayley, have delivered time after time on Raw. They are an integral part of the show, so it’s no surprise to see them in two title matches at an important PPV.

And it will be even less surprising to see them show out tonight.

Jessicka Havok’s Fantastic Introduction To WOW Against Kiera Hogan

Women of Wrestling has been a strong hour of television since debuting on AXS, and last week’s episode was no exception. Tessa Blanchard’s championship victory took most of the headlines, but Jessicka Havok’s WOW AXS debut was also a huge deal.

One of the best aspects of WOW is the vignettes played before matches, where we get to learn more about each of the characters. Stephy Slays, Razor, and Faith the Lioness are among the wrestlers who’ve had excellent video packages played before their matches, and Havok’s was no exception to this.

Learning about Havok embracing her darkness, fighting awful comments others sent her way, and achieving success inside the squared circle on her own terms was awesome. And then she went out there and won her debut match against Kiera Hogan (aka “Fire”), one of the fastest-rising stars in wrestling right now.

Havok and Hogan absolutely killed it in the ring, and they were perfect opponents for each other. Hogan did everything she could to put down Havok, but none of her dropkicks (or regular kicks) had any real impact on Havok, who simply wore Hogan down with her brutal power.

Though everyone in the WOW audience respects the hell out of Havok, they booed her heavily after the match was over and Hogan was pinned – the best possible ending for her AXS TV debut victory against one of wrestling’s best babyfaces.

Here’s what stood out to me the most: Havok seemed so relatable in her video package, yet she was still able to get huge negative reactions as the heel in her match against “Fire”, just on the strength of her in-ring work. I wish more promotions trusted their performers to play a perfect heel/face match in the ring and humanize heels instead of resorting to cheap heat or trashy gimmicks. Big ups to Havok, Hogan, and WOW for the character work and match.

Tessa Blanchard Dominates Friday

Santana Garrett was forced to vacate the WOW Championship, as she had to tend to her father, whose oxygen tank was pulled by the dastardly Tessa Blanchard weeks earlier. Blanchard and Garrett have been embroiled in the type of rivalry that can take a promotion to the top, yet it was only fitting for Tessa to win the title in a match that didn’t involve Garrett.

The Beast beckons for Tessa, the new WOW Champion, after her interference costed Jungle Grrrl in this title match. Tessa’s title victory will make WOW that much more must-see next week when Garrett inevitably returns, and The Beast and Jungle Grrrl go full-force after the new champion.

Tessa has a target on her back in WOW, but she’s used to being the woman everyone wants to beat. As much as she’ll take a controversial win, Tessa doesn’t back down from fights and relishes the opportunity to face women who are as gifted as her inside the squared circle – especially women who can match her power.

Immediately after this week’s episode of WOW, Tessa faced another one of those formidable opponents in Taya Valkyrie, as the two had a highly-anticipated Knockouts Championship match.

Their Street Fight was indeed the show-stealer at Impact’s “Uncaged” television special and was somehow even more brutal than expected. Valkyrie and Blanchard have produced one of wrestling’s best rivalries, and they knocked this Street Fight – the best possible stipulation match for their feud – out of the park.

Although Tessa was unable to capture gold in back-to-back taped shows, her excellence on both WOW and Impact this week are a reminder that she is one of the best in the business. In fact, she’s been Impact’s biggest star since the summer and has already helped WOW become appointment television for diehard wrestling fans.