One of the surprises on the “Raw After Mania” last night was NXT standout Sol Ruca interrupting Liv Morgan’s celebratory World Title promo and ending up competing in a match with the 3-time Women’s Champion. Sol put on a good showing and had seemed to neutralize the Judgment Day numbers game until her fiercest rival from Tuesday nights came in through the crowd and viciously attacked her. Looking to get the final shots in before their Last Woman Standing match tonight, Zaria laid Sol out and ruined any chances she had of upsetting the World Women’s Champion on her first night on Raw. Elsewhere in the NXT women’s division, North American Champion Tatum Paxley will defend her championship tonight against the woman who was recently gifted a personalized version of the title.
Now, before becoming a full-time member of the red brand, Ruca will look across the ring at her former best friend and write her final chapter on Tuesday nights. After months of tension seeming to simmer underneath the surface, Zaria finally had enough and attacked Sol during introductions for the latter’s NXT Women’s Title match a few months ago. After Sol was victorious over Zaria at Stand & Deliver, the former gymnast was looking to move on last week, and found herself in a match with Izzi Dame. Zaria had other plans though, and nailed her former friend with a vicious spear, allowing Izzi to pick up a huge win, and setting up a Last Woman Standing match for tonight. One of the beauties of this amazingly unique artform of professional wrestling is that there are always shades of gray and that even characters who do despicable things are rarely ever totally irredeemable. No matter which camp you’re in with the ZaRuca feud, it’s clear tonight could be the one that decides it and allows both women to move on to whatever’s next.
To hear Sol tell it, she felt betrayed after trying her damnedest to share some of her well-deserved and hard earned shine with her partner. In Ruca’s eyes, she tried for months to elevate Zaria to her level so they could be there together. She graciously gave up a TNA Knockouts Title match so Zaria could have it. She trusted Zaria enough to defend the North American Championship on her behalf when Sol was unable to due to injury. In Sol’s mind, she tried. Now, from Zaria’s perspective, Sol was just holding her back the whole time. They were supposed to be a team, but the ratio of opportunities that they received over the past year or so skewed heavily in Ruca’s favor. The opportunities Zaria got to shine? Patronizing gifts….. from Sol. Defending a championship….. for Sol. Tag team title matches….. with Sol. Zaria wanted her own spotlight and she realized that spotlights don’t shine in her partner’s shadow.