Welcome one and all to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION! The Royal Rumble event is just days away but we’re not fully clear about how will actually be involved in the 30-woman match at the PLE. Let alone if there will be any Women’s Championship Matches or any other women’s bouts on the card at all! Will this be the week we get some clarity? Let’s get into it, and find out…
RHEA RIPLEY accompanied The Judgement Day as they confronted The Bloodline ahead of the Raw Tag Team Championship match next week at Raw’s 30th Anniversary show.
CATHY KELLEY interviewed The Judgement Day before Alpha Academy interrupted.
BECKY LYNCH went to the ring but made her entrance through the crowd, before calling out Bayley. DAMAGE CTRL in full force came out, with Bayley wearing a sports jersey to mock the local crowd’s sports team. Bayley mocking Becky’s low brow ‘Karen’ insults by saying she must have beat Lynch so bad the last time Lynch has forgotten her name. Bayley revelling in that Lynch was a sore loser and mocking Lynch for still having no friends.
Lynch tried to provoke Bayley claiming she peaked in 2015, but Bayley claimed that Lynch ‘stole her spot’ with the other Horsewomen, and that Bayley should have had the big spots in Raw, Smackdown and WrestleMania. Rounds of insults followed, including Bayley saying the only reason Lynch became ‘The Man’ was because she got punched in the face by ‘another woman’. Lynch eventually goaded Bayley into accepting a one-on-one match, but upped the ante by saying it would be a Steel Cage Match. Bayley seemed hesitant to accept but eventually did.
Rhea Ripley accompanied The Judgement Day as Dominick Mysterio and Damien Priest beat Alpha Academy. Ripley providing a distraction so Priest could hit the South From Heaven Chokeslam to gift Mysterio a cheap win.
Women’s Singles Match
MICHIN w/h CANDICE LERAE defeats Women’s Tag Team Champion IYO SKY w/h BAYLEY & DAKOTA KAI
Bayley came out to the entranceway but left the Tag Champs to handle business by themselves. The ring announcer again called Michin Mia Yim but the match graphics and commentators only called her Michin. Michin got the early edge, shoving down Sky off a lock-up and then using misdirection to nail a Dropkick. Michin hitting a corner strike but Sky soon used her quickness to slither through the ropes, and use a Matrix-style evasion on the apron. A simple Hot Shot getting Sky a break but going for a Springboard Sky hopped back to the apron, perhaps with Michin being too close. A knee Strike to Yim trying to Shoulder Thrust through the ropes sent Michin back before Sky hit a Missile Dropkick off the top rope.
A Running Corner Meteora got Sky a two count. Michin tried for a comeback but Sky countered a strike into bringing Michine down with a Crossface. Michin was able to counter with a pin hold for a two count, before getting clubbed down by a Polish Hammer. Sky went for a Double Underhook, but Michin countered for a Back Body Drop attempt only for Sky to flip out and land on her feet. Hitting a Shotei before the women countered moves, Sky trying for a Headscissors but Michin trying for a Powerbomb off of it. Eventually leading to Michin hitting her Leaping Neckbreaker to turn the tide.
Michin fired off strikes, a couple of Chest Kicks then hitting a Flapjack to set up a Running Low Dropkick. Michin hit a Wheelbarrow German Suplex. Michin went for Eat Defeat but Kai got on the apron to distract, but Sky failed to steal the win off a Jackknife Pin. LeRae hauled Kai off the apron and ate a Drokpick through the ropes from Sky for her trouble. That was a distraction enough for Michin to hit Eat Defeat and score not just a much needed win, but a big one over half of the Tag Team Champions!
Kai hit the ring after the bell, attacking Michin only to get a boot to the head from Lerae. LeAre hitting a Codebreaker to send Kai to the floor as the faces, and probably the next challengers for the tag titles, celebrated in the ring.
We finally got confirmation of at least four names for the Women’s Royal Rumble Match- Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley, Raquel Rodriguez and Candice LeRae all ‘confirmed’ so far but that still left many spots left open in the match.
Raw Women’s Champion BIANCA BELAIR returned to Raw as she went to the ring. Sucking up to the fans saying she missed them (she had only been off of last week’s Raw) and claiming her ‘job’ had risks. Eventually calling out ALEXA BLISS who came out a remixed, darker version of her previous prock theme and a changed graphic on the tron. Bliss claiming Belair was afraid of her because she didn’t know what to expect from her. Belair however cut Bliss off, saying she didn’t have to wait and try to win the Royal Rumble Match for a title shot, and challenged her to face her one-on-one for the title at the Rumble event.
Bliss accepted the challenge, but Belair didn’t want to wait until the Rumble. A brawl starting with Belair getting the upperhand to toss Bliss in the crowd barrier, ring post and apron, and eventually beating up Bliss in the crowd as well. Belair set up two chairs out in the crowd area, hooking up Bliss for a planned KOD! However, from a side entranceway it seemed ‘Uncle Howdy was in the distance through smog and eerie light. Amotion with his hands as Bliss escaped, and then hit Belair with a Goddess DDT on the concrete floor! Bliss backing away from the light and ‘Howdy’ as Belair was left laid out.
The Bella twins were announced as being part of the line-up of ‘Legends’ to appear next week for Raw’s 30th Anniversary.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
At long last after a good few weeks of stalling we get the official confirmation of a Women’s title match for the Royal Rumble event. It might be a good one between Bliss and Belair, hopefully not as sloppy and wild as they first encounter, but I still have the fear that the match will be hijacked by this Uncle Howdy/Bray Wyatt storyline.
In contrast, rather than having the match happen at the Rumble, Lynch and Bayley’s feud will seemingly end next week in a Steel Cage Match to load up the 30th Anniversary show. I can’t see the storyline being dragged out longer, especially if as rumours have it Lynch might be the favourite to win the Women’s Rumble Match, but you never know if there will be a questionable finish to this ‘one -on-one’ match. It should be a great one.
Elsewhere, Michin and LeRae are being set up as the next tag title challengers. Having LeRae, who has been hot and cold with performances, have half the workout in a tag match is honestly a smart move. I don’t see Damage CTRL dropping the titles just yet, especially if Bayley comes out the losing end of the Cage Match next week. We also still have a lot for free spaces to fill in the Women’s Rumble Match. That either means a lot of surprises (possibly NXT Superstars) or a lot of disappointment when the Rumble Match comes around.
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!