New Girls On The Block: Will WWE’s Talent Infusion Produce Results?

This week’s episodes of Raw & SmackDown Live saw the emergence of two new trios looking to make names for themselves. Raw’s group features one returning Superstar along with two newcomers that aren’t newcomers to hardcore WWE fans. SmackDown’s trio is made up of three NXT performers crashing the gates & getting their spots by taking them.

The Raw & SmackDown women’s divisions can always use more talent. There are some great competitors in them, but one weakness over the past year has been a lack of compelling contenders to either championship. Sasha Banks gets title shot after title shot because there isn’t anybody else WWE wants to put in the top contender role on Raw. When you don’t want certain wrestlers to lose so you put off their title shots until the time is right, it places a limit on who else you can throw out there.

Adding three women to each roster expands the possibilities. They might not have been my first choices out of the Performance Center (I’m an Iconic Duo guy), but they’re proper choices for the roles.

An Unexpected Return & Some Unexpected Call-Ups

To be perfectly honest, I did not expect to see Paige back inside a WWE ring. Medical issues combined with the various situations she got into with Alberto el Patron had me writing off the idea of her returning to Raw or SmackDown and makikng an impact. I’m happy things have turned around & she’s back where she belongs: at the center of a thriving women’s division.

The fans were happy to see her too, which is always a good sign. Paige is tough to forget about. Keep in mind that she’s only 25 years old. Paige still has plenty of time to live up to all of the hype she received way back in 2011 when she signed a WWE contract.

The connection between Paige, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville isn’t too hard to figure out. They met during Season 6 of Tough Enough, when Paige served as a judge while Mandy & Sonya were contestants trying to earn contracts with WWE. Any intelligent competitor would use their position as a judge to scout out future allies & opposition. Paige’s return to the Performance Center a couple of months ago gave her further opportunity to work with Mandy & Sonya, & bring them around to her way of thinking.

Paige definitely has a target on her back. There are a good number of people backstage that would love to see her fail. Mandy & Sonya will provide a support system for Paige in & out of the ring. They’ll help her against other Raw Superstars in the ring, and the hope is that out of the ring they can help keep her out of trouble.

Sonya Deville got her athletic career started in mixed martial arts. That might come in handy if certain rumors surrounding WWE’s women’s division ever come to pass. She exited Tough Enough early but was impressive enough in her brief stay to earn a contract. She had an impressive winning streak going in May & June on NXT television, then disappeared for awhile. This happens often in NXT, people go on streaks & then disappear for further training. Sonya’s offense was what you’d expect from a mixed martial artist. Lots of strikes & submissions, nothing all that pretty but certainly effective. She’ll be the heater of the group.

Mandy Rose will most be known for the already-mentioned season of Tough Enough and the season of Total Divas she appeared on. She’s been training in the Performance Center with the rest of the NXT crew since her signing, but hasn’t appeared very often on NXT television. Mandy’s mostly worked the house shows, often in random tag team matches where she can listen & learn. She did a great job at coming off as a heel on Tough Enough, so great that Mick Foley is still apologizing to her for comments he made about her during the season. What a mark. Paige wasn’t a huge fan of hers during that season, but time heals all wounds, and I’d imagine that Mandy’s desire to succeed in training has won Paige over.

I can’t honestly tell you whether or not she’s ready for a spot on Raw as far as the working aspect goes. I can tell you that WWE brass thinks she is, and I think you & I have a pretty good idea of why they think so.

…it’s because she was runner-up in a season of Tough Enough. Where did you think I was going with that? Sure, she has the classic blonde hair blue eyes dream girl look. Lacey Evans does too. Evans also has more NXT television experience and an awesome backstory, and is somebody I’d love to see on Raw. That being said, she isn’t a fit here because she wasn’t on Tough Enough. Give WWE some credit here, they put more thought into this group than “Let’s stick Paige with two randos.”

Unfortunately, I’m less convinced of the thought process behind SmackDown Live’s attack squad.

It worked on Raw, let’s do it on SmackDown

There’s definitely credibility behind the group. Ruby Riot worked her way up through Ohio Valley Wrestling, CHIKARA, Stardom & various other indy promotions before getting a WWE contract earlier this year. She’s been one of the most popular women in NXT since her debut and has been pushed as one of that division’s competitors. Her getting called up is only a surprise if you still think WWE is hung up on a certain look. She’s got the skills and stands out from the crowd, so I think she has a really good shot at being successful here.

The only issue, at least for right now, is that she’s better at being on the good side of the fence. That can always change though.

Sarah Logan also got her start in the indies before making her way to Florida in late 2016. She made a few appearances on NXT in losing performances, and was one of the 32 women selected to compete in the Mae Young Classic. She was on the losing end of most of her NXT house show appearances, in fact a few of her wins were in tag team matches with Riot. So there’s that connection.

Riot & Logan have similar backgrounds & similar wrestling styles. They go all out. Liv Morgan is a wild card here. She didn’t get her start in the indies, but she is the most tenured WWE developmental talent out of any of the newcomers. She’s been training at the Performance Center since late 2014 & has found some success in NXT, but didn’t really break out from the pack as of yet. This feels like one of those call-ups where WWE just decides that they need to figure out if they have something or not. You can’t keep people in development forever.

The impact of SmackDown’s invasion was lessened by the fact that we already saw it on Monday night. They flip-flopped the timing of the in-ring & backstage attacks, but other than that it felt just like Monday night. You even had the woman that looked the most like Paige of the group doing the talking. With that in mind, you have to take a group that waylaid the likes of Charlotte, Natalya, Becky Lynch & Naomi without much of a fight seriously.

Who Will Stick?

The odds of everybody here still being on WWE television in a year’s time isn’t great. Nothing against any of the ladies involved, it’s just a matter of competition & number of spots. All of these women are in their mid-twenties & have plenty of time to get better. First impressions are big though, so failure here could hamper their development going forward. Emma’s WWE run is a pretty good example of what happens when you come up short in your first attempt.

I like the Raw trio’s chances a lot better. Paige will still be around, barring injury or anything unforeseen happening in her personal life. Deville has impressed in the ring thus far & works a style that should mesh well with most of the other women on the roster. Mandy Rose is more of a question mark. As long as she isn’t as bad as Eva Marie was in the ring, I like her chances. If she’s on that level…she won’t last long.

Ruby Riot has the best chance of sticking out of anybody on the SmackDown trio. She has the talent & I’ve heard nothing but good things about how she fits into a locker room. I think Logan & Morgan both have a good amount of upside, but they haven’t shown enough on this level to prove that they’ll be anything more than bit players. For their sake, I hope I’m wrong.

I don’t expect either trio to still be intact a year from now. Paige’s character has always had a hard time keeping friendships going. Mandy has shown a tendency to rub people the wrong way. Liv Morgan doesn’t have much in common with Riot or Logan outside of the fact that they all want to succeed in WWE. Maybe that’s enough, but I doubt it.

You might recall that the Divas Revolution started with three trios. None of them lasted a year together, and the feud among the factions was widely panned by critics at the time. However, it did give Charlotte, Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks a chance to prove they belonged on the main roster. They took the brass ring & they’re all still doing their thing today.

For the sake of the depth of both women’s divisions, hopefully these wrestlers will take advantage of their chance as well.