Welcome one and all to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION! We are heading closer towards WWE Payback and the Steel Cage Match that was announced last week between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus. Alongside the WWE casually moving one half of the tag titles off of the injured Sonya Deville onto Piper Niven, and the unsettled scores between Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez. What’s next for the women of Raw? Let’s get into it, and find out…
A planned attack by RHEA RIPLEY and The Judgement Day on Sami Zayn was thwarted by the returning Kevin Owens.
VALHALLA and The Viking Raiders made a statement, costing Drew McIntyre and Riddle a tag team match against The New Day before beating down The New Day.
JACKIE REDMOND handled interview duties.
SHAYNA BASZLER had a hype video.
MAXXINE DUPRI and Otis gave Chad Gable pep-talk ahead of his match.
Non-Title Singles Match
Women’s World Champion RHEA RIPLEY w/h Dominik Mysterio defeated CANDICE LERAE w/h INDI HARTWELL
Ripley bulldozed LeRae into a corner right off the bell. Hitting body shots but missing a corner charge as LeRae got a count of one from a Roll-up. LeRae dodged another corner charge and went up top, just to be distracted by Mysterio getting on the apron. Hartwell hauled him dow but it all gave Ripley the time to be ready, catching the Crossbody attempt from LeRae and turning it into a Backbreaker. Ripley went for Riptide by LeRae countered into a nice DDT.
LeRae hit her Lionsault for a near-fall. Moments later LeRae tried for a Wheelbarrow move, but Ripley’s power blocked it as she turned the grip into a fully elevated Prysm Lock to get a quick submission win.
After the match RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ came out using a crutch, something Ripley and Mysterio mocked her about. It was just a classic ruse as Rodriguez threw the crutch at Ripley to catch before levelling her with a Big Boot. The brawl going into the ring as Rodriguez got the upper hand, decking Ripley with the Rewind Clothesline. A Fallaway Slam sending Ripley out of the ring and into a rare retreat. Rodriguez getting a mic to say she’d been cleared, and said she was facing Ripley at Payback for the Women’s World Championship.
BECKY LYNCH went to the ring for a promo. Lynch claiming the issues between her and Stratus came down to legacy and survival. The usually defiant Canadian crowd not fully into the promo as Lynch claimed she was unstoppable and always fought. TRISH STRATUS and ZOEY STARK interrupted, with Stratus fake praise for the crowd and then mocking them and the local sports team which ultimately led the crowd chanting something less than PG in French.
Stratus admitted she was scared of being in her first-ever Steel Cage match but claimed she’s been scared in the past in WWE and killed it. Saying Lynch should be scared of her and will see a side Lynch has never seen before. Lynch mocked all of it and said next week she’d see Stark in a Falls Count Anywhere Match.
Non-Title Tag Team Match
Women’s Tag Team Champions CHELSEA GREEN & PIPER NIVEN defeated KAYDEN CARTER & KATANA CHANCE
Green and Niven were not on the same page in a brief backstage segment before the match. Green and Chance started off with Green shoving Chance down, just to eat a dropkick. A quick tag saw Carter drop down to trip Green’s legs, setting up a Double Knee Drop after a flip from Chance. Moments later, Niven got a blind tag but Carter cut her off from coming in with a Side Kick, before blocking a Superkick from Green to hit one of her own.
Chance was tagged as the faces did an impressive double team of a Handstand by Chance off of Caerter’s shoulders into a Moonsault drop. But the move was onto Green who wasn’t legal, as Niven pulled Carter out of the ring and sent her onto the announce desk. Moments later Niven hit the Low Crossbody on Chance to get a quick win.
Rhea Ripley ordered Finn Balor and Damien Priest to get along to team against rivals Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens for the main event tag match, which turned into a six-man tag between The Judgement Day and Zayn, Owens and Cody Rhodes. At one point in the match Ripley hit a Bodyslam on Owens on the outside but The Judgement Day still lost the match.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Another squash win for Ripley but the post-match brawl was better, finally properly establishing Rodriguez as a threat and setting up that long-awaited clash over the title. Meanwhile, the promo with Stratus and Lynch felt like a dud thanks to the angered crowd going into business for themselves. And while the tag team match established Niven as the force for the next tag champs, it came at the expense of one of the only legit challenger teams on Raw. So where the Hell does the division go from that?
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!