Welcome one and all to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION! Raw has been suffering from more of the same as of late despite the upcoming Money in the Bank event with rematches including of straight up repeats of tag bouts. Let alone the ongoing, somewhat stale feud still going on between Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley. Will we get a spark in storylines this week, or will it be the same old, same old from the WWE? Let’s get into it, and find out…
NIA JAX and SHAYNA BASZLER were backstage with Reginald, but ALEXA BLISS was doing a spooky vanishing act in the background to mess with them.
Eight-Woman Tag Team Match
DOUDROP, EVA MARIE, NIA JAX & SHAYNA BASZLER w/h Reginald defeated ALEXA BLISS, ASUKA, NAOMI & NIKKI A.S.H.
Before the match Naomi and Asuka were with Nikki A.S.H. (yes, they actually changed her name to that. Yikes.) as once again it was laid on thick about how great Nikki’s new look is. However, things turned sour when each woman proclaimed themselves to want to win Money in the Bank.
Doudrop started off against Naomi until Eva Marie tagged herself in and Marie didn’t even perform a lock-up convincingly, let alone a lazy looking Forearm smash as a cheap shot. Marie then cowardly tagged back out to Doudrop who ate a Dropkick from Naomi before she could get into the ring. Naomi then hit a Corkscrew Plancha to Baszler and Jax on the floor, before Asuka hit Doudrop with a Hip Attack meant for Marie, and then A.S.H. hit a Crossbody off the apron onto Doudrop that again was intended for Marie who dodged both shots. Marie then did what she could only do, pose, and that led to Bliss screaming at her to make Marie bail out in fear and sell it like she’d gotten shot.
Back from commercial and some thankfully actual wrestling was going on as Alexa Bliss fired off kicks at Doudrop. Bliss was sent to the ropes but did a creepy spider clutch onto them to block the momentum, as A.S.H. got a tag but her attempt at a Wheelbarrow Bulldog on Doudrop was easily shoved off. A.S.H. hit a Jawbreaker then a Low Dropkick to chop Doudrop down, tagging out to Asuka so she could hit kicks to the chest. Doupdrop blocked one and hit a Headbutt to stagger Asuka, and with Marie wanting no part of a tag Doudrop tagged to Jax which led to both heels sandwiching Asuka with standing Spashes at the same time front and back. Jax seemingly impressed with Doudrop as she gave clear nods of the head of approval.
Asuka took a corner Splash then a Running Elbow Drop from Jax for a two count. Baszler was tagged in, hitting body shots then ground and pound blows. Baszler worked over Asuka’s ankle and hit a leg blow. Eva Marie of all people tagged in and hit awful looking stomps that even the announcers dryly mocked, and made fun of Marie quickly tagging out to Jax. Jax hit a Body Slam for a near fall. Asuka escaped a rest hold with a Stunner, and Jax knocked A.S.H. off the apron before stopping Asuka from tagging out. Alexa Bliss managed to lock Reginald in a spooky trance but Baszler rounded the ring and hauled Bliss off the apron then into the barricade to break the spell. Back in the ring Asuka was sent into the heel corner but knocked off Doudrop, and avoided a wild Jax charge as she ended up hitting Baszler off the apron with a Spear.
Marie was tagged in and just looked stupid with weak arms up to ‘block’ Asuka’s strikes, then ducking a kick to tag out to Baszler. Asuka rolled through with Baszler with an Arm Bar attempt but Baszler countered with an attempt of her own that Asuka rolled into a cover for a two count. The push off from the pin allowing Naomi to get a blind tag that set up a Disaster Kick into Asuka hitting a German Suplex. Doudrop barely made the save on the fall, then hit a Cannonball onto Naomi but A.S.H. reached in to tag off of Nikki. Asuka nailed a Codebreaker to Doudrop, Asuka took a Knee Strike from Baszler and A.S.H. hit a Crossbody (or do we call it a ASH-body now?) on Baszler but Marie quickly broke the pin up.
Nia Jax blind tagged in, but A.S.H. never saw it as she applied her La Magistral pin onto Baszler. Jax pulling A.S.H. up and trying for the Samoan Drop but A.S.H. fought out. But trying for a Running Crossbody Jax caught the move and hit the Samoan Drop for the win. However, Eva Marie once again declaired herself the only winner much to the anger of the rest of the actual winning team.
CHARLOTTE FLAIR was in the ring with a crutch as she put on a fake voice of hurt and blamed the ‘injury’ on Rhea Ripley, claming her rival was ‘so scared’ of losing the title Ripley was trying to take her out. RHEA RIPLEY herself came out and had a crutch of her own, staggering her way down clearly mocking Flair’s own faked injury. Ripley mocked Flair and called her a drama queen. Both women then kicked one another’s crutches away, proving one another’s injuries to be fake. The two then played Star Wars for a while, swinging crutches like Lightsabers before Ripley caught Flair in the gut, and made Flair bail to safety.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Flair/Ripley segment was simple and effective, getting across Flair’s true cowardly nature in the feud. However the eight woman tag did no one any favours despite the match being well worked aside from every time Eva Marie was involved in the contest. Nia Jax didn’t need a win here, especially over someone trying (perhaps too hard) to get a new gimmick along with new name over. Let alone a win over someone actually in MITB unlike her. This might be a big sign that on the Raw side of things MITB is just a sideshow distraction to ongoing storylines. At this point I would be very surprised if anyone from Raw ended up winning the briefcase. And Eva Marie was so awful, as expected, that she couldn’t even do a lock-up convincingly. Was it really worth firing the likes of Ruby Riott just for low level social media clout from Marie? There was also no sign of the women’s tag champs and their feud with Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke on the show. Has that been dropped already as well?
That’s your lot for this week. Be sure to stop by in seven days time for the next edition of the RAW RECAP! See you then!
