Welcome one and all to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION! The WWE Draft is over with and with the rosters set in stone, we now head towards the Hell in a Cell event. However there’s been no matches for the women of Raw announced for the Pay Per View set. There is a Raw Women’s Championship set for this week’s edition of Raw however with Asuka defending against the very unlikely challenger of Lana. How quickly can Asuka fend off the extremely far from her level opponent? And will any actual challenger step up to give Asuka a test for HiaC? Let’s get into it, and find out…
ALEXA BLISS kicked off Raw by welcoming her man The Fiend to Raw. The two would teleport away however when Retribution, including RECKONING, hit the ring Bliss and Fiend would ‘teleport’ away. Fiend would return to pulzerise Retribution’s male members with Bliss looking on on the big screen in apparent approval.
CHARLY CARUSO handled interview duties.
Women’s Championship Match
WWE Raw Women’s Champion ASUKA defeats LANA to retain.
Asuka easily controlled Lana with a Headlock then a shoulder knockdown. Moments later Asuka nearly applied the Asuka Lock but Lana struggled to the ropes. Lana managed to get some wild strikes in and got a two count off kicks. A Head Kick from Lana stopped that momentum. Lana continued to look rough with stalling roll-ups, before eventually Asuka applied the Asuka Lock for an easy victory.
After the match NIA JAX decked Asuka from behind, before she and SHAYNA BASZLER did their favourite hobby as Jax put Lana through the announce table with a Samoan Drop for the fifth time. Asuka fended off Baszler with a Kick then a Hip Attack before wisely fleeing from the handicap attack.
The Women’s Tag Team Champions held the ring as they ran their mouths but clearly they weren’t on the same page still. Jax dared anyobe who disagreed to come out, and that of course brought out MANDY ROSE and DANA BROOKE. But in addition LACEY EVANS and PEYTON ROYCE came out but clearly the two weren’t on the same page. And despite having been drafted to Smackdown LIV MORGAN and RUBY RIOTT also came out as the announcers claimed there was ‘one last oppertunity’ for them to compete on Raw.
Non-Title Fatal Four Way Tag Team Match
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions NIA JAX & SHAYNA BASZLER defeated DANA BROOKE & MANDY ROSE, LACEY EVANS & PEYTON ROYCE, & The Riott Squad (LIV MORGAN & RUBY RIOTT)
Brooke and Riott started off but soon all the women came in to strike the tag champs. The Riott Squad used leaping kicks to send the tag champs out and then Brooke and Rose used Baseball Slides on them before the fight went to the floor as Royce hit a Crossbody off the apron. Evans then doing a Moonsault off the apron onto the pack before both Riott Squad members did top rope Crossbodies to take out the other women.
Back from commerical Royce was in control against Morgan. Royce had to slap Evans on the back to tag out and ended up taking a Headscissors from Morgan before Riott was tagged in. Rose blind tagged in off of Evans and thanks to Baszler dragging Riott back along the mat Jax tagged in off of her. Rose’s strikes did nothing and when Brooke was tagged in their attempt at a Double Team Suplex ended up with Jax suplexing them both. A charge in just ate turnbuckle and set things up for a Brooke Handspring Back Elbow. Rose tagged in, wiped Evans and Royce off the apron and hit her Pump Knee Strike to Jax. Brooke was tagged in and hit the Swanton Bomb as Rose cleared the Riott Squad from their corner. Baszler managed to break up the pin however.
Everyone got their spots in with Rose Pump Knee to Baszler, Royce Roundhouse Kick to Rose, a Riott STO to Royce, the Women’s Right to Riott and Brooke just tossing Evans out. Morgan tagged off of Brooke and ran in with a Low Dropkick to Jax, strikes then another Dropkick. Evans tagged off of Jax and ate a Drop Toehold for her trouble. Morgan hit a Double Stomp to Evans’ back, then the Squad hit their double team of finishers with the Morgan Side Codebreaker then the Riott Kick. However Baszler hauled Riott out from the cover and locked on the Clutch. Sending Riott in at her team’s corner so Jax could make a tag, and she hit the Samoan Drop on the weakened Evans for the somewhat cheap win.
Alexa Bliss would appear again this time actually in the Firefly Funhouse with Bray Wyatt.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
There were odd rumours this past week that the WWE might be turning Lana babyface. Thankfully, there were no signs of that from how easily Lana was dispatched by Asuka but it seems the WWE might be lining up Asuka to face double trouble with the tag champs going forward. Jax and Baszler picked up a win over the rest of the tag division on one night, including an odd makeshift team of Royce and Evans. Why the Hell did they split up The IIconics just to put Royce into a new team weeks later? Let’s hope that doesn’t last.
There was no mention of any match for the women of Raw at Hell in a Cell which is just days away which is extremely dissapointing even with the highly anticipated clash between Bayley and Sasha Banks. The HiaC card itself is far from loaded even with just days away, so it’s very likely matches will either be announced closer to the show or just slotted into the card. It’s still not a good sign for any of the women of Raw that the title that had been at the center of such a great storyline months ago is being relegated so harshly.
That’s your lot for this week. Be sure to stop by in seven days time and we’ll have all the coverage with the next edition of the RAW RECAP! See you then!