Welcome one and all to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION! The Royal Rumble event is just a few days away, with the Women’s Royal Rumble Match that should (barring a Flair victory) decide a WrestleMania challenger. Alongside Becky Lynch defending the Raw Women’s Championship against Doudrop. So who will get the edge heading into the Premium Live Event? Let’s get into it, and find out…
Women’s Singles Match
BIANCA BELAIR defeated Women’s Tag Team Champion QUEEN ZELINA
Zelina and her questionable accent had a short, uninteresting cut in promo before the match. Belair toyed with the pint-sized opponent, easily sending Zelina over the top rope with a Bodyslam grip, before ducking a shot and using a Waistlock to pull Zelina back in through the ropes before slamming down to the mat. Soon after Belair did a flip counter and hit a Single Leg Dropkick before kipping up. Belair’s overconfidence came back to bite her as Zelina countered a Delayed Suplex into a Stunner.
Zelina worked over Belair in the corner, hitting a Springboard Boot to the head then a Running Knee when Belair was out of the corner. Not long after, Zelina made Belair pay again for taking her time as Zelina escaped out of the Gorilla Press Slam to apply a Sleeper Hold, taking Belair down to the mat. Belair eventually escaped, coming back with a Shoulder Knockdown then a Single Leg Dropkick. Belair hit a Suplex, rolled through into a Delayed one. But again being too cute with a kip up cost her as going for the Handspring Moonsault Zelina brought the knees up. Zelina went for Code Red but Belair blocked, escaping and quickly hitting the KOD for the clean win.
SONYA DEVILLE reprimanded Damien Priest for getting DQ’d in his title defence.
6-Woman Tag Team Match
24/7 Champion DANA BROOKE, LIV MORGAN & RHEA RIPLEY defeated Women’s Tag Team Champion CARMELLA, NIKKI A.S.H. & TAMINA
All the women in the match had promos declaring their intentions to win the Royal Rumble. Ash declared herself as being ‘Your Favourite Superhero’ as well. Brooke and Tamina started off, with Tamina taking control with a Back Elbow before working Brooke over. Brooke flipped out of a Back Suplex attempt and tagged in Ripley as she took Tamina down with a Dropkick and tried swinging for Ash who fled, so knocked Carmella down instead. Tamina then botched twice in a row, slipping out of Ripley’s grip for a Short-Arm Clothesline and then Tamina bumped before Ripley could even try for the second. Ripley took control fo things, hitting the second Short-Arm and then the Ripcord Headbutt.
Ripley hit the Alicia Fox Suplex but Carmella (only just) broke up the pin. The women got their spots in with Carmella hit a Low Kick to Ripley, before Morgan took Carmella out with the Enzigiri. Ash hit the Swinging Neckbreaker to Morgan, but was left open for a Dropkick from Brooke. Tamina hit a staggering Back Elbow to Brooke before tagging out to Carmella. Carmella pie-faced and taunted Ripley, and got taken down as Ripley locked in her Inverted Elevated Cloverleaf submission for a dominant win. Ash did a hit and run, hitting Ripley from behind after the match then fleeing the ring with a manic laugh.
ALEXA BLISS, clad this week in more black than usual including the panda eyes make-up, had another therapy session.
BECKY LYNCH and DOUDROP had a dual interview to hype up their title match. However, Doudrop ended storming Lynch’s set for a sudden brawl.
SARAH SCHREIBER handled interview duties.
The MARYSE birthday celebration hosted by The Miz was, as expected, eventually ruined by BETH PHOENIX and Edge.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
A fine, harmless night (aside from Tamina’s major botches) that gave Belair and Ripley nice momentum victories and did a painless job of hyping the title match between Doudrop and Lynch. It seems that Belair might be being built more to win the Rumble, but there could be the possibility that she’s robbed of the win (probably by Lynch) to leave the door open for a surprise challenger to take on Charlotte Flair off the back of the Rumble.
That’s your lot for this week! Be sure to stop by in seven days time for post-Royal Rumble edition of the RAW RECAP! See you then!