Jonathan Coachman believes WWE taking the Women’s Intercontinental Championship from Sol Ruca was a sign that the company’s confidence in the rising star had declined.
Coachman discussed WWE’s developmental process and Ruca’s recent booking during an appearance on Developmentally Speaking with Bryan Asbury.
Coachman first contrasted modern NXT with the developmental system he experienced through Ohio Valley Wrestling.
“OVW was on TV, but not national TV.”
He said that smaller television environment allowed developing wrestlers to learn production fundamentals before appearing on national programming.
“It was on local TV and it was a way for a talent to learn how to work on TV.”
“You’ve got to know where the cameras are. You’ve got to know where to bump.”
“You’ve got to know if you’re going to a commercial, how long 90 seconds is.”
The conversation then turned to recent WWE call-ups.
“Think about the guys that have been called up recently, and have they been pushed outside of Oba Femi and maybe Trick?”
Coachman identified Ruca’s July 27 title loss to Raquel Rodriguez as a significant signal.
“Sol Ruca, they take the title off of her the other night.”
“What do you think that tells Sol Ruca behind closed doors? ‘We don’t believe in you.’”
Coachman praised Ruca’s athleticism while arguing that the difficulty of her offense creates an unusually high execution standard.
“You’re brand new. You’re athletic as hell.”
“Her moves are a high-wire act.”
“Brian, when you’re asking somebody, man, you’ve got to pull off a pay-per-view move every single match, that’s a problem.”
Coachman pointed to execution mistakes as another reason he believes confidence has declined.
“She has botched a few things.”
“So, the belief in her is gone.”
WrestlingHeadlines covered Rodriguez defeating Ruca for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship on July 27.
Coachman’s conclusion is his interpretation of the title change, not backstage reporting about WWE management. There is also evidence that Ruca remains prominently featured. WrestlingHeadlines reported that Ruca defeated Lyra Valkyria clean on the August 17 episode of Raw.
WrestlingHeadlines has also previously covered WWE editing an in-ring slip by Ruca from its digital presentation, but there has been no confirmed report that management has lost faith in her.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Developmentally Speaking, with a h/t to Wrestling Headlines for the transcription.
