Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella in Raw's Closing Segment Isn't Surprising

Raw ended Monday night with a pull-apart brawl.

WWE officials, many of whom were noticeable former wrestlers, scrambled about to keep rivals Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella from doing harm to each other.

The situation was so intense that Triple H—top WWE executive and a future WWE Hall of Famer—tended to the skirmish, serving in a secondary role no better or worse than that of Jamie Noble, who was also a key diffuser during the segment.

What resonated with many fans was that WWE’s flagship show had booked two women in its main event slot:

What should also resonate with fans, outside of the comical Jamie Noble chant, was that WWE officials had filled the ring during a Divas fight.

Earlier in the night, Divas champion AJ Lee and top contender Paige also engaged in physicality. Lee had taken exception to being called crazy and proceeded to pounce on the Englishwoman.

There was not an official in sight during the altercation, which was a possible preview for a fourth Divas Championship match between the two.

Jamie Noble couldn’t even be bothered to ruffle his suit and put an end to this madness.

When contrasting the AJ Lee-Paige brawl to McMahon’s fight with Bella, a message was being sent to WWE fans about the latter.

This fight is too good for free television.

Stephanie McMahon’s last name makes her a main eventer by default. She spent much of WrestleMania season as a fixture in main event segments opposite Daniel Bryan. Still, McMahon has not wrestled in over a decade. As arguably WWE’s most potent heel, this makes her in-ring return much more coveted.

An angle that will culminate in a return to the ring for McMahon should, at the very least, have a main event time slot on Raw.

When Bella requested a match at SummerSlam, McMahon responded by assuming she wanted to wrestle against another Diva.

“What is it? For the Divas Championship?” McMahon said with more than a hint of a condescending tone in her voice.

That comment alone, along with its tone, positioned McMahon as a prize greater than even the Divas Championship. After all, this isn’t just a Divas angle where the officials don’t even bother.

This is a McMahon angle.

Maybe it was telling that fans were chanting for Jamie Noble as Raw went off the air. His involvement, and that of the other WWE officials, was instrumental in conveying a big-fight feel.

In 2012, a bloody scuffle between Brock Lesnar and John Cena resulted in a similar pull-apart brawl. That segment involved another asset in need of preserving, as the limited number of dates in Lesnar’s contract renders him strictly a pay-per-view commodity.

Likewise, any physicality involving Stephanie McMahon will be worth the price of admission.