Welcome one and all to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION! WrestleMania creeps ever closer but before we get there, Becky Lynch and Nia Jax look to end their feud with a Last Woman Standing Match, a contest that Lynch herself won last year but against a much larger and dangerous (and that’s not a compliment) opponent. Will The Man survive and finally turn her focus fully towards Rhea Ripley? And what next for the tag team scene amid rumours that one half of the Tag Team Champions in Asuka is injured? Let’s get into it, and find out…
Backstage RHEA RIPLEY and The Judgement Day continued to court Andrade.
Tag Team Match
CANDICE LERAE & INDI HARTWELL defeated KATANA CHANCE & KAYDEN CARTER
Neither team got an entrance. Carter and LeRae started off with a back roll pin by Carter before a Springboard Dropkick off the bottom rope for a count of one. Hartwell got a blind tag of sorts, so when Carter took out LeRae with a Superkick she turned into a Big Boot by Hartwell for a near fall. LeRae took a tag and clobbered into Carter with clubbing blows then got a two count. LeRae went for the Step-Up Senton but Carter rolled away, leading to tags on both sides.
Chance used to slide to sweet the leg and then hit a Running Facebuster. A Running Dropkick sent Hartwell into a corner to take some stomps before Chance hit a Hook Clothesline in the corner. Chance flipped out of a Back Suplex but sold an injury once she landed like she’d jolted her knee. While the other Superstars showed concern, LeRae tagged herself in to rush in and take out Carter with a Baseball Slide. Ruthlessly slamming Chance’s ‘hurt’ leg into the ring post then locking on a high-angle Single Leg Crab to force the submission. Hartwell was conflicted while LeRae gloated and even mocked Chance for being hurt.
Backstage LIV MORGAN briefly faced off with BECKY LYNCH, telling her that just for tonight Lynch could get Jax all for herself.
Last Woman Standing Match
BECKY LYNCH defeated NIA JAX
Lynch started off quick with a Dropkick then a Missile Dropkick to send Jax stumbling out of the ring. A Baseball Slide led to the Forearm off the apron by Lynch but Jax didn’t (sell) go down. Jax ducked a second Forearm then used the Samoan Drop grip to drive Lynch into the ring post then the crowd barricade.
After a commercial break, there was carnage with the announce table’s top taken off and a chair lying around while Lynch struggled to set up a table by herself. Jax tossed multiple chairs into the ring and then she gave up on setting up the table when it seemed one of the legs was busted. In the ring Lynch struck Jax with a chair then went for a Man-Handle Slam but Jax blocked, and then hit a Samoan Drop into the chairs. Lynch would apply a Back Sleeper, and then hit a Bulldog to sent Jax into a set-up chair.
Lynch did a Leap of Faith from the top and ate a steel chair swing from Jax, who then pummeled Lynch with more chair shots to the back. Jax got a couple of Kendo Sticks and used one to hit Lynch before she hit a Bodyslam onto a chair then a Legdrop. Jax put a chair over Lynch and sat on it to try and prevent Lynch from standing up, but Lynch used a Kendo Stick to whack Jax to first get off of her, and then force her out of the ring.
Jax hit Lynch with the top part of the steel ring steps, but missed her Legdrop on the apron spot before Lynch hit a DDT onto the lower part of the steps. After another commercial break, a table was finally properly set up at ringside along with a ladder by the announce table. Lynch used the spray from a fire extinguisher to blind Jax. In the ring, Jax countered a charge by Lynch to hit a Samoan Drop to send Lynch (and herself) through a table that had been set up against a corner.
Jax hit The Annihilator but Lynch wisely rolled out of the ring to technically stand when she put her feet on the floor. Jax tried for a Samoan Drop off the apron but Lynch escaped and clubbed away before she hit a Man-Handle Slam off the apron through a table. Jax barely beat the count but stumbled around to put herself, timely, in position for Lynch to hit a Legdrop from off the ladder to drop Jax through the announce table. Lynch beat the count while Jax was still down to win the match.
After the match Rhea Ripley walked out to gloat, getting in Lynch’s face as the two ‘Mania opponents mouthed off to close the show.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Last Woman Standing Match was solid given that Jax managed to do her usual low amount of selling until the very end. A lot of weapons, as expected, were used and table spots for wham-bam action which is exactly what that kind of match is good for. And Lynch finally, decisively beats Jax to not just get that win but take Jax away from any title conversation. Elsewhere, LeRae’s heel antics worked far better here with a ruthless attack than the distasteful badmouthing from last week. This story might stall with Asuka being injured and with no announcement tonight, we might not get a Women’s Tag Team Championship Match at ‘Mania at all unless they apply the Freebird Rules.
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!