Welcome one and all to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION! SummerSlam creeps every closer but we don’t yet have any confirmed Women’s matches for the PLE. That might change after tonight with a ‘high stakes’ match between Becky Lynch and Zoey Stark where if Lynch wins, she gets a rematch against Trish Stratus. Will Lynch finally get her hands on Stratus? And what’s next for both the new Women’s Tag Team Champions and for Rhea Ripley after she played a part in costing the former champs their titles? Let’s get into it, and find out…
RHEA RIPLEY alongside The Judgement Day kicked off Raw. It led to Ripley accepting a challenge from Sami Zayn on behalf of Dominik Mysterio to put his NXT North American Championship on the line.
Singles Match
BECKY LYNCH defeated ZOEY STARK w/h TRISH STRATUS
Stratus was wearing a T-shirt with the meme photo of Lynch in a shark’s mouth that Stratus had been posting on social media over the past week. Lynch avoided a charge and pummeled Stark with strikes and stomps in a corner. Then running the ropes to hit a Flying Forearm for a count of one. Lynch went for the Dis-Arm-Her but Stark quickly fled the ring. Lynch missed a Baseball Slide but got the better of a brief brawl around ringside. Back in the ring Stark avoided the Man-Handle Slam by grabbing the ropes to go to the middle strand. Lynch tried for a Powerbomb from that position but Stark kicked her away. Stark vaulted to the apron just to use the ropes again for a Springboard Missile Dropkick for a near fall.
Moments later Stark mistimed or just forgot what move was next, falling back to the mat so Lynch couldn’t hit a kick to the back so Lynch just leapt on top of Stark for a form of Forearm attack for a two count. Soon after Stark hit her Tumbling Senton for a two count. After a commercial break, Lynch tossed Stark into the barricade a hat trick of times, then sending Stark back in as Lynch up for a Legdrop off the top rope for a near fall.
Lynch set up Stark through the ropes and hit a trio of strikes, but Stark pulled back before Lynch could hit the Legdrop to Stark. Stark got knocked down anyway to allow Lynch to hit the Jumping Forearm from off the apron. Stark was sent back in and behind the referee’s back Stratus used her facemask to deliver a Headbutt to stun Lynch. Sending her in as Stark nailed a Superkick but still only got a two count. Lynch then blocked Z-360 before countering with a Bex-Ploder Suplex. Moments later Lynch hit a Suplerplex from the middle ropes, rolling into a regular Arm Bar but Stark countered, powering Lynch up for a Powerbomb counter for a near fall.
Stark went for a Phoenix Splash but landed on her feet when Lynch rolled out of the way. Stark countered a Man-Handle with a roll-up pin but Lynch countered that and used the kick out to apply the Dis-Arm-Her. Stratus tossed in her face mask and distracted Lynch, as Stark tried to steal the win off a Roll-up like two weeks ago but this time Lynch kicked out. Moments later a Springboard Leap of Faith sent Stark into a Man-Handle Slam as Lynch scored the win. Securing that rematch against Trish Stratus.
JACKIE REDMOND handled interview duties.
Rhea Ripley and Damien Priest accompanied Dominik Mysterio as he faced Sami Zayn as Mysterio defended the NXT North American Championship. But after Ripley distracted the ref, the official ended up tossing out Kevin Owens and then The Judgement Day for the men having slugged. Ripley and Priest still managed to distract, laying out Owens on the entrance staging to allow Mysterio to steal the win with a Roll-up.
Backstage LIV MORGAN was interviewed, saying that she was the last person who defeated Rhea Ripley and vowed not to back down. After Morgan left, the new Women’s Tag Team Champions of CHELSEA GREEN and SONYA DEVILLE stormed in, complaining about not being interviewed. But they soon changed their tune with Rhea Ripley showed up, making the tag champs back away. Ripley said she’d warned Rodriguez and Morgan in the past, and vowing to take out Morgan like she’d done to Rodriguez.
Singles Match
LIV MORGAN Vs RHEA RIPLEY never officially happened
Ripley attacked Morgan as she made her entrance, sending Morgan into the crown barricade then the ring post. Yanking Morgan’s arm down across the timekeeper’s area barrier. In the ring, Ripley decked Morgan with a Headbutt then put a steel chair onto Morgan’s targetted arm before stomping the chair. A ‘trainer’ and a referee arriving to check over Morgan as Ripley gloated before Ripley did another chair-aided arm stomp. Morgan writhed in pain as Ripley trash-talked as she headed back up the aisle.
MAXXINE DUPRI and the Alpha Academy addressed The Viking Raiders. Dupri said she didn’t know why Valhalla was so obsessed with her but said she wasn’t going to ‘fall off’ after being embarrassed once when she’s done it many times over to her. Challenging Valhalla to a one-on-one match next week. Later, VALHALLA and The Viking Raiders accepted the challenge claiming “The Gods smile upon brave women”.
SHAYNA BASZLER was interviewed as she said she was sick and tired of hearing Ronda Rousey’s name. Saying she was going to ‘fight’ Rousey at SummerSlam rather than just having a match. Later, RONDA ROUSEY responded by accepting the challenge but not to ‘a’ fight, but ‘the’ fight.
Becky Lynch was briefly interviewed backstage as she said her issues with Trish Stratus wouldn’t be over until she won.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Liv Morgan seemingly suffered an arm injury last week from social media pics of her in a sling after Raw, so this was likely to write her out for a while. Either that or a massive swerve as Ripley still isn’t booked for a title match at SummerSlam. That’ll be a wait-and-see. Meanwhile, Stark and Lynch put in a fine match with the expected outcome as we head towards perhaps the feud-ending clash at SummerSlam between Lynch and Stratus. There isn’t a lot of time left before SummerSlam to hype up the matches so we’ll see what’s next for the women next week, especially what the ‘fight’ between Rousey and Baszler will actually be.
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!