Enough Hot Potato Already

[Jack-Hammer]

Since the July25th episode of Raw this past summer, Charlotte and Sasha Banks have been trading the WWE Raw Women's Championship back & forth. Last night on Raw, after a great no DQ Falls Count Anywhere main event, Sasha won the title for the 3rd time since July 25, 2016; since that date, the two have held the title an average of 31.5 days before dropping it back to the other and it's time to put an end to it.

In my opinion, this feud should have ended at Hell in a Cell with Sasha retaining the title so both of them can move to other programs. Overall, it's been a great feud and they've put on some highly memorable matches; there've been a few bumps along the way and it hasn't been "perfect", but there's been a lot of quality. Other than Vince just being really high on Charlotte, I don't know why Sasha didn't retain at HIAC but she didn't and 29 days later, Sasha regains the title yet again on an episode of Raw. Last night was billed as the "final chapter" in this rivalry which had me thinking Charlotte would retain. So, does this mean yet another "final chapter" at Roadblock or are they going to skip the automatic rematch clause this time around?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It should have ended at Hell In A Cell with Banks winning the belt. Then you've got a natural feud with Charlotte and Dana, and they can slowly build towards Banks and Bayley.

What do WWE have against Banks winning the title on pay-per-view?

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I'm with you on this one. I'm tired of this hot potato thing between sasha and charlotte and while the matches have been great, the 50/50 booking is making this feud one of the worst feud of the year in my opinion because in the end, both girls aren't going to be more over by the end of this.

last night they had a chance to spin off those 2 to other feuds by having nia jax cost sasha the title, but they decided to switch the belt again which made no impact because now everybody thing that sasha will drop the belt again at roadblock.

They really need to finally put this feud to bed by having sasha win on ppv and have both girls move on tp another feud because it not fair to the rest of the raw women's to have to wait on these 2 before getting some sort of a feud.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Overall, it's been a great feud and they've put on some highly memorable matches;

How often do we get to say this?

Last night's main event was fun. That finish was a nice surprise. The moonsault from the announce table was crazy athletic, dangerous, and downright unnecessarily awesome. If we can justify Lesnar and Goldberg having a minute and a half main event "because sometimes combat sports end up that way" we can justify that these two can trade wins and titles and feud for awhile.

Why are we so anxious to get to Bayley? Sasha and Charlotte are still giving us good matches. There is no guarantee Bayley will do the same. It is very possible that Bayley is going to have to wait longer behind a Charlotte/Nikki feud.

Maybe I'm being unfair. I don't watch as much wrestling as most here but I will say that I continue to enjoy what these two do in and around the ring.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

What's wrong with the story of two wrestlers so evenly matched that either of them can win on their day?

Instead of the usual 1 or 2 wins each, then a rubber match and both go their separate ways.

I think it's quite good for a change that they go back and forth, shows they can both beat each other on their day, have to do something different to win which is exactly what happened on Raw.

Some people are never happy!!!

 

[Spidey Revivey]

OP calling their feud great and memorable is why it will and should continue.

We live in an age where we're not making bathroom jokes when the women wrestle. They're putting on what I'd consider better matches than they ever have. People love finding issues with good things, though, so here we are talking about how WWE should stop doing that thing that is actually great, because it's the same two people involved.

So what? That's what feuds are. The same two wrestlers hashing it out for months. Men do it all the time. The Rock and Mankind exchanged the World title four times between November 1999 and February 2000. Sasha and Charlotte have done it five times in seven months. That's not all that bad considering the quality of their matches.

I love Bayley. I don't think anyone would argue it's going to be a big deal when she finally comes into the title fold. And I hate to play with my crystal ball, but there's probably a good reason why she isn't involved completely just yet. She's a big enough deal for a large pay per view like Wrestlemania. No matter who comes out as the ultimate champion, a match with Bayley is going to put asses in seats. I personally don't want to see that squandered on some B+ pay per view like Roadblock.

Especially when Sasha vs. Charlotte are having a great, memorable feud.

 

[Kizzani]

So a great thread. Calling it hot potato is perfect, It wouod have not gotten as many dummies if you would have called it "Stop doing what you have always done to build a point and a storyline that can transend 20016 into different years".

Rock -Mankind-Rock-Mankind-Rock Dec 98-Feb 99)
Triple H -Rock-Triple H-Rock (Jan 2000 - July 2000)
Triple H -Orton - Triple H (1 night)
Orton -Cena-Orton-Cena (June 2009- Dec 2009)
Orton -Bryan-Orton- Bryan (Aug 2013- Oct 2013)

WCW
Savage-Flair-Savage-Flair (Nov 95- Feb 96)

Learn your wrestling, this has been the way things work. When you have two top talents that are clearly above the rest you build a fued by swapping back and forth.
When they swap back and forth a fued can keep moving forward, if you have a 1 off or even a two off (Goldberg -Lesnar) that isn't a fued that is one dominate force beating a not so talented force. It is like this in every sport. 49ers-Cowboys was a fued it went back and forth for 6 plus years.....Now the 49ers suck and Cowboys are dominate, this is no longer a fued.

Then you look at the other talent Bayley (fan favorite) but not so good in the ring. The fans don't know jack crap....this is why they voted for a clown like Sara Lee and Mandy who is already ring ready is showing why she was the easy choice. The clowns of the WWE universe have no clue and don't really see the bigger picture.

Banks not winning at PPV makes he winning at a PPV that much bigger, As it does the same for Charolette who has never lost a PPV title match. Think about the undertaker, the fans didn't see 21-0 coming back when the man won his first PPV, WWE proably didn't even see it until he was 5-0 or even 10-0.

It is building a foundation. Bayley is far from the top 10, Jax is just a big Beach, Brooke is a clown shoe. Most of the women from the divsion on RAW lack depth, smackdown has most of the talent and still most feel new, if you didn't watch NXT.

Not seeing the storylines progress from NXT to Smackdown or Raw is like watching the new walking dead season and never seeing any previous seasons. To you those who died this season were special to you from past seasons, and new watchers will never understand. Now if you did watch NXT and saw how things unfolded and your still but hurt about teh same wrestling trends that that carried the company for years......Stop watching.

 

[d_henderson1810]

OP calling their feud great and memorable is why it will and should continue.

We live in an age where we're not making bathroom jokes when the women wrestle. They're putting on what I'd consider better matches than they ever have. People love finding issues with good things, though, so here we are talking about how WWE should stop doing that thing that is actually great, because it's the same two people involved.

So what? That's what feuds are. The same two wrestlers hashing it out for months. Men do it all the time. The Rock and Mankind exchanged the World title four times between November 1999 and February 2000. Sasha and Charlotte have done it five times in seven months. That's not all that bad considering the quality of their matches.

I love Bayley. I don't think anyone would argue it's going to be a big deal when she finally comes into the title fold. And I hate to play with my crystal ball, but there's probably a good reason why she isn't involved completely just yet. She's a big enough deal for a large pay per view like Wrestlemania. No matter who comes out as the ultimate champion, a match with Bayley is going to put asses in seats. I personally don't want to see that squandered on some B+ pay per view like Roadblock.

Especially when Sasha vs. Charlotte are having a great, memorable feud.

I seem to remember "Double J" Jeff Jarrett and Razor Ramon trading the IC title back and forth I think at least four times each.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Isn't it that the want to keep Charlotte undefeated on PPV?

Sure. But she was on the losing end of a tag match on PPV anyway and what better way for it to end than in the main event in the first female HIAC

 

[StaRRStruck]

Imo, sometimes it needs to happen. It keeps the idea of unpredictability alive, and while I am one for long healthy reigns not everyone can get that lol especially with the amount of titles they're currently in the WWE. Sasha needs a least a few months with the title to cement somewhat of a reign, but a lot of great feuds are made with this formula. I get why some people roll their eyes to the hot potato reigns but they happen and it's one of the factors that has made this feud quite memorable tbh.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

The problem with this is that it's not a surprise. Whenever I see Charlotte, I fully expect to see Sasha come out and talk about how "we've" built this division and cry about winning the championship. I expect them to trade it back and forth. It's extremely boring and predictable.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

It should have ended at Hell In A Cell with Banks winning the belt. Then you've got a natural feud with Charlotte and Dana, and they can slowly build towards Banks and Bayley.

What do WWE have against Banks winning the title on pay-per-view?

They likely remembered that Charolotte is undefeated on PPVs and want to keep her streak going.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Hot potato is ok with me. The problem is that this feud hasn't really done anything to rach a bigger peak other than "women! revolution! hurray!". Yes, it's two great wrestlers having great matches, but if you're gonna continue a feud after a Cell match, you need something more personal. However this one has stayed on a static note ever since it begun. Charlotte trying to take out Sasha and break her back, was a nice twist, but they never really ran with it.

And after that it has been mostly good matches, but without that extra something. I don't really feel animosity between the two girls now and I didn't feel it either when going into the cell.

If you want to run the same feud for what, since Wrestlemania, you need it to be more personal. Rock-Mankind and Rock-HHH and Orton-Cena where great "hot potato" feuds, because you could feel the emotion, the animosity. I can't feel it now. Sorry.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

So a great thread. Calling it hot potato is perfect, It wouod have not gotten as many dummies if you would have called it "Stop doing what you have always done to build a point and a storyline that can transend 20016 into different years".

Rock -Mankind-Rock-Mankind-Rock Dec 98-Feb 99)
Triple H -Rock-Triple H-Rock (Jan 2000 - July 2000)
Triple H -Orton - Triple H (1 night)
Orton -Cena-Orton-Cena (June 2009- Dec 2009)
Orton -Bryan-Orton- Bryan (Aug 2013- Oct 2013)

WCW
Savage-Flair-Savage-Flair (Nov 95- Feb 96)

Learn your wrestling, this has been the way things work. When you have two top talents that are clearly above the rest you build a fued by swapping back and forth.
When they swap back and forth a fued can keep moving forward, if you have a 1 off or even a two off (Goldberg -Lesnar) that isn't a fued that is one dominate force beating a not so talented force. It is like this in every sport. 49ers-Cowboys was a fued it went back and forth for 6 plus years.....Now the 49ers suck and Cowboys are dominate, this is no longer a fued.

Then you look at the other talent Bayley (fan favorite) but not so good in the ring. The fans don't know jack crap....this is why they voted for a clown like Sara Lee and Mandy who is already ring ready is showing why she was the easy choice. The clowns of the WWE universe have no clue and don't really see the bigger picture.

Banks not winning at PPV makes he winning at a PPV that much bigger, As it does the same for Charolette who has never lost a PPV title match. Think about the undertaker, the fans didn't see 21-0 coming back when the man won his first PPV, WWE proably didn't even see it until he was 5-0 or even 10-0.

It is building a foundation. Bayley is far from the top 10, Jax is just a big Beach, Brooke is a clown shoe. Most of the women from the divsion on RAW lack depth, smackdown has most of the talent and still most feel new, if you didn't watch NXT.

Not seeing the storylines progress from NXT to Smackdown or Raw is like watching the new walking dead season and never seeing any previous seasons. To you those who died this season were special to you from past seasons, and new watchers will never understand. Now if you did watch NXT and saw how things unfolded and your still but hurt about teh same wrestling trends that that carried the company for years......Stop watching.

first of all, i love how all your examples are from either from the last couples of years or during the attitude era and are all feuds that nobody really remember or cares to revisit.

Having said that, you really should watch some older wrestling that happened before the attitude era, when you we're still able to tell a story without being force to do lazy booking like they are doing with this feud or all the feud you mentioned as example. I know that wrestling and it's fans have chance since the 80's and early 90's but the fundamental on how to booking are great feud are still the same. Have your babyface chase the champion, fail, get back up, go through some obstacles to get your rematch and then on PPV you go and have you babyface challenger beat your heel champion. That'S wrestling booking 101 and that's how a memorable feud is build. Then after the babyface champion won the belt, the heel champion gets his or her rematch and fail and you move on with another challenger until it's time to revisit this feud.

Right now, this feud could have been so much more if book correctly because while they have done some great matches, it'S just that a series of great matches and they are position as the 2 women's that are getting all theses groundbreaking stipulation matches and main event and you're not really connecting with neither character. From what i've heard from somebody that was in the crowd last night, most of the fans we're confuse about who to cheer for because they wanted to cheer for charlotte but we're kinda forced to cheer for sasha because of the ric flair dedication. So both girls aren't over, their matches are.

If it was me that was booking that match, nia jax would have interfered in the match costing sasha the championship and this would have lead to a match between sasha and nia and charlotte would have gotten into a small program with bayley and i would have keep the ultimate match between Charlotte and Sasha for wrestlemania next year. This way, you get new feud for the raw women's roster while still not really forgetting about this feud and keeping the big match for mania and you have sasha finally beat charlotte on PPV in the ultimate wrestlemania moment.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Its kinda overkill. Would be fine with Sasha taking the title, holding it for some time and then Charlotte taking it again. Like this in short span of just 4 months both of them are 3 times Champions. One month Sasha wins it at RAW, next PPV loses it to Charlotte. Then again wins it at RAW, and then again loses it to Charlotte. And then again after a while loses it at RAW. Both are great and deserve lots of accolades during their career. But in span of 4 months to trade title in that way is kinda overkill. Let Bayley challenge Charlotte and lose until she gets back up and win at Mania. Let Nia atack Sasha and develop that feud. There are other ways of good developing of characters and storylines then just two girls going back and right and trading titles everytime its title match. Hell in a Cell should be last at least for a while. I know roster doesnt have so much depth but that doesnt mean we cant have other feuds until you pit them again against eachother.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Charlotte vs Sasha have been feuding and wrestling each other since the last Wrestlemania with a title juggling between them throughout most of the feud. They've put on some good to great matches. But it's almost December. Can we please move on to a new feud for both wrestlers?

This is another example of why the brand split sucks. The women's division shouldn't have been split up at all.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I've loved this feud but these quick title changes irritate me. Sasha better have a lengthy title reign this time. Let Charlotte feud with Dana for a bit, she could become upset with Dana as a failure of a sidekick to the point of snapping at her. Sasha can feud over the title with Bayley or Emma (if she ever returns, enough with the "premiering soon" videos already!). Heck, Summer Rae never got a shot at a title and she vanished months ago. Foley's promo on Raw even gave the impression that this feud was finally ending. Let that be the case. I'm a big fan of both girls but another quick title change to put the belt BACK on Charlotte AGAIN would be a shame. This is approaching Cena VS Orton levels of ridiculousness with the title switches.

 

[OYDK]

5 years from now people will look back on this Sasha/Charlotte program as one of the greatest Women's feuds of all time, if not THE greatest of all time, and yes, the title changes will have a lot to do with that. I'm sure back in the day people had the same complaints with Rock/Foley switching the title so many times but now we view it as a legendary rivalry. It would not have been so had they not been trading the title back and forth, or at least that's my opinion.

Right now, we say hot potato. But this is one of the times where it makes sense. They're building Charlotte as their 1A but they're also doing a really good job of putting Sasha on the same level. After it's all said and done, you got two bona-fide stars instead of one.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

5 years from now people will look back on this Sasha/Charlotte program as one of the greatest Women's feuds of all time, if not THE greatest of all time, and yes, the title changes will have a lot to do with that. I'm sure back in the day people had the same complaints with Rock/Foley switching the title so many times but now we view it as a legendary rivalry. It would not have been so had they not been trading the title back and forth, or at least that's my opinion.

Right now, we say hot potato. But this is one of the times where it makes sense. They're building Charlotte as their 1A but they're also doing a really good job of putting Sasha on the same level. After it's all said and done, you got two bona-fide stars instead of one.

5 years from now i doubt anybody will even remember this feud the way that booked it. What makes a great feud isn't just the matches but the story behind thoses matches. Yes sasha and charlotte had great matches i've got to grant you that but that'S pretty much it because the promo work was horrible, especially on sasha's side. they hide behind all that women's revolution crap and pretty much serve as an excuse for WWE to say, yeah look at use we take are women'S wrestlers seriously because we give them main event on raw and let them wrestled in stipulation matches that normally are reserved for man.

The feud isn'T memorable at all, the matches are and probably some of them will be remember five years from now especially this week match which was the best out of the lot in my opinion but that it. But when compared to a feud like the one Trish and lita had, this isn't a memorable feud as of now.

 

[rbv13]

anyway and what better way for it to end than in the main event in the first female HIAC

Logic would suggest using Hell in a Cell as a blow off match but heading into it the Charlotte/Banks fued seemed to lose some intensity. Particularly b/c the match has been so over done it has lost its edge and more so b/c it became less about the feud and more about doing the match for the simple sake of just doing it.

The feud seems to have picked back when it comes to intensity. They've refocused on the championship and their desire to better the other. I would be surprised if we don't see a Last Woman Standing or Iron Woman match at Roadblock: End of the Line.

 

[OYDK]

5 years from now i doubt anybody will even remember this feud the way that booked it. What makes a great feud isn't just the matches but the story behind thoses matches. Yes sasha and charlotte had great matches i've got to grant you that but that'S pretty much it because the promo work was horrible, especially on sasha's side. they hide behind all that women's revolution crap and pretty much serve as an excuse for WWE to say, yeah look at use we take are women'S wrestlers seriously because we give them main event on raw and let them wrestled in stipulation matches that normally are reserved for man.

The feud isn'T memorable at all, the matches are and probably some of them will be remember five years from now especially this week match which was the best out of the lot in my opinion but that it. But when compared to a feud like the one Trish and lita had, this isn't a memorable feud as of now.

Don't talk out your butt man. Lita was basically the equivalent to Sasha on the mic, I'd even say Sasha is a better talker than Lita ever was. I mean, I highly doubt you can tell me what the story behind Trish/Lita was without googling it. And even so, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out the dynamic of this feud. Sasha/Charlotte have done things Trish and Lita have only dreamt about doing, like, I don't know, main eventing a PPV in the first ever Women's HIAC...

Plus, it's not like this is the end of Sasha/Charlotte interacting. This is literally they're first real program on the WWE main stage and both, all things considered, probably have 10 years left in them.

Anyway, people will remember this feud for far deeper reasons than the story or the matches or the title changes. This feud broke barriers. It will be remembered whether you personally like the program or not.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I don't like the way the title keeps changing hands, Charlotte wins on PPV, Sasha wins on TV, but to me they are doing their best to make each competitor look equal, thus the trading of the title. The feud hasn't been perfect, but it has been the top program on Raw for a while. Between Owens being an extremely poorly booked champion, Roman holding the US title for no reason, Stephanie's constant swinging between face and heel, and Seth's shitty face turn, their isn't much else going on that has been consistently solid.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Don't talk out your butt man. Lita was basically the equivalent to Sasha on the mic, I'd even say Sasha is a better talker than Lita ever was. I mean, I highly doubt you can tell me what the story behind Trish/Lita was without googling it. And even so, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out the dynamic of this feud. Sasha/Charlotte have done things Trish and Lita have only dreamt about doing, like, I don't know, main eventing a PPV in the first ever Women's HIAC...

Plus, it's not like this is the end of Sasha/Charlotte interacting. This is literally they're first real program on the WWE main stage and both, all things considered, probably have 10 years left in them.

Anyway, people will remember this feud for far deeper reasons than the story or the matches or the title changes. This feud broke barriers. It will be remembered whether you personally like the program or not.

All I have to say about this is will see in five years who's right. What made the lita/trish feud wasn't the barrier they broke even if they we're the first to main event a raw. It was the way they told the story. It wasn't always about the title, sometimes it was just about who was the best. Lita wasn't the best promo, but at less you could hear the confidence in her character. Sasha doesn't have tha, it's like she not sure what her characterr is and she's cutting confusing promo. Like I wrote before, I'm not saying tat the matches we'rent great because they we're, but the way they book this feud, you could have put any other divas like becky, paige or bayley and it would have been the same because this feud never was about the 2 performers but it was about the women's revolution and breaking barrier and in the end, fans will forget pretty quickly who was part of this story in the end andthe only thing peoples will remember is that 2 womens did all these things that nobody we're able do do before.

 

[kadroan]

Since the July25th episode of Raw this past summer, Charlotte and Sasha Banks have been trading the WWE Raw Women's Championship back & forth. Last night on Raw, after a great no DQ Falls Count Anywhere main event, Sasha won the title for the 3rd time since July 25, 2016; since that date, the two have held the title an average of 31.5 days before dropping it back to the other and it's time to put an end to it.

In my opinion, this feud should have ended at Hell in a Cell with Sasha retaining the title so both of them can move to other programs. Overall, it's been a great feud and they've put on some highly memorable matches; there've been a few bumps along the way and it hasn't been "perfect", but there's been a lot of quality. Other than Vince just being really high on Charlotte, I don't know why Sasha didn't retain at HIAC but she didn't and 29 days later, Sasha regains the title yet again on an episode of Raw. Last night was billed as the "final chapter" in this rivalry which had me thinking Charlotte would retain. So, does this mean yet another "final chapter" at Roadblock or are they going to skip the automatic rematch clause this time around?

I assume they change titles for shock value and the fact the feud draws ratings so they have to find ways to keep it going.

I think they will have their final match at Roadblock. Charlotte could feud with Bayley and Sasha feuds with Nia and lose the title to her heading to WM. We get Bayley going into WM hot as an underdog while Nia can be dominant.

 

[Navi]

All I have to say about this is will see in five years who's right. What made the lita/trish feud wasn't the barrier they broke even if they we're the first to main event a raw. It was the way they told the story. It wasn't always about the title, sometimes it was just about who was the best. Lita wasn't the best promo, but at less you could hear the confidence in her character. Sasha doesn't have tha, it's like she not sure what her characterr is and she's cutting confusing promo. Like I wrote before, I'm not saying tat the matches we'rent great because they we're, but the way they book this feud, you could have put any other divas like becky, paige or bayley and it would have been the same because this feud never was about the 2 performers but it was about the women's revolution and breaking barrier and in the end, fans will forget pretty quickly who was part of this story in the end andthe only thing peoples will remember is that 2 womens did all these things that nobody we're able do do before.

While I agree with you in part, the two feuds are different and the same at the same time.

When Lita and Trish starting feuding, they were I believe managers. Lita was with the Hardy's and Trish with managing T&A. There was basically no in ring action between the two women, as a matter of fact I don't believe Trish was even a wrestler back then, she didn't start till later.

This back and forth between the two went on for a long time. They became the equivalent of a pebble in each other's shoe, and it was great. A heel Trish was great to watch on the mic, and it took Lita a while to come up to speed. Once they actually did get into the ring, Lita showed that she was the better of the two. Add that to the fact that they are good friends made it look almost too easy for them.

While Charlotte and Sasha have a background together in NXT, it somehow doesn't come off the same. Their feud started in the ring, and it's been a series of oneupmanship matches ever since. Like what can we do next to top the last one. I would like to see them do the slow burn that Lita and Trish did, finally coming to a head at Mania. Let someone else carry the women's title for awhile. Afraid though that it might be too late to even attempt something like that. But's that's what they should have done in the beginning. That would have made this the best feud between the top two women's stars of this generation.