Welcome to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION! We’re finally just days away from WrestleMania weekend and the highly anticipated clash between Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch for the Women’s World Championship. So who will get the last laugh ahead of ‘Mania, and will there be any final twists before the biggest event of the year? Let’s get into it, and find out…
CATHY KELLEY interviewed BECKY LYNCH after a recap video showed Lynch invading an interview to confront Rhea Ripley. Lynch only said she’d go to the ring to call out Ripley.
RHEA RIPLEY backstage at the Judgement Day clubhouse was furious when Dominik Mysterio invited Legado Del Fantasma (including ELEKTRA LOPEZ).
Tag Team Match
IVY NILE & MAXXINE DUPRI defeated CANDICE LERAE & INDI HARTWELL
LeRae and Nile started off, with Nile easily overpowering LeRae to force her to cower through the ropes then tag herself out. Nile worked over the arm of Hartwell, holding a wristlock so Dupri could tag in and hit an Axe Handle off the middle rope to the arm. Hartwell hit a Body Slam, and brought Dupri over so LeRae could tag in but despite holding Dupri’s arm, LeRae went for a hair-pull Slam instead.
Durpi took some stomps, but was able to counter a Suplex attempt with a Small Package for a near fall. LeRae hit some clubbing blows and got a two count. LeRae chopped Dupri in the corner of her and Hartwell, but Dupri avoided a charge that sent LeRae into the middle turnbuckle so Hartwell could tag in. Hartwell tried to block a tag but Dupri kicked her away and tagged in Nile, who hit a round of hits then a flying Headscissors. A Head Kick by Nile set things up for a Running Kick to Hartwell in a corner.
Ivy Nile went up top, briefly caught by Hartwell who got shoved down and while the referee checked on her, from behind LeRae shoved Nile off the top and into the ropes. Hartwell confronted LeRae about that, which allowed Dupri to be tagged in and hit a Dropkick that sent Hartwell into LeRae to knock her off the apron. A ROLL UP OF DOOOOOOOOOOOOOM allowed Durpi to get the upset win.
After the match LeRae badmouthed her tag partner for the loss while Hartwell seem conflicted over the loss.
As promised, Becky Lynch went to the ring. Making it blunt that she started a fight earlier and came for one, so she called out Ripley. General Manager Adam Pearce came out and said the fight wouldn’t happen and brought out security. Rhea Ripley of course came out, barreled through the guards and stormed the ring to go at it with Lynch. The guards separated the two, only for Lynch to go off the top rope with a Crossbody of sorts to take out the guards and Ripley on the floor. Another brief slug before the guards separated the two and ended the segment. But the brawl would continue backstage to be separated once again.
DAKOTA KAI was flanked by DAMAGE CTRL to cut a promo backstage about their WrestleMania opponents Bianca Belair, Naomi and Jade Cargill. Reminding them that Damage CTRL held all the gold and claimed that even WrestleMania wasn’t bigger than Damage CTRL.
Six-Woman Tag Team Match
DAMAGE CTRL (DAKOTA KAI & Women’s Tag Team Champions ASUKA & KAIRI SANE) w/h IYO SKY defeated SHAYNA BASZLER, TEGAN NOX & ZOEY STARK
The babyface team didn’t get an entrance. Damage CTRL jumped the faces to start the match and leave Nox against Kai. Quick tags allowed the Kabuki Warriors to double team Nox with kicks, a one-handed Bulldog by Asuka and a low Dropkick by Sane to give Asuka a near fall. Another round of tags to make Kai legal led to an attempted Triple Dropkick by Damage CTRL, but the faces were able to hit stereo German Suplexes. Leading to stereo running kicks to send the heels out. Nox and Baszler hit Baseball Slides to Kai and Asuka. Setting up for Stark to hit a Springboard Crossbody to wipe out Damage CTRL on the floor.
After a commercial break, Baszler blocked a Sliding Forearm attempt by Sane with a kick before Baszler tagged out to Stark who went House on Fire with Clotheslines to both Warriors. She flipped out of the corner to avoid an Asuka charge then hit a Snap German Suplex before she kipped up. Moments later Stark hit a Springboard Missile Dropkick and got a near fall. Sane would counter a Suplex attempt into a DDT.
Kai and Nox got tags, and Nox took control with strikes, a Clothesline and a snap Chokeslam. A short range Headbutt let to a pop-up Knee Strike, a running Kick then the high-angle Cannonball. Asuka broke up the pin attempt, before Baszler locked in the Kirifuda Clutch on Asuka. Only for Sane to grab the leg from the outside, distracting Baszler so Asuka could escape and take Baszler down with a Head Kick. A Stark Superkick then took out Asuka but when Stark went for a Springboard move on Sane, Kai shoved her partner out of the way and took out Stark mid-flight with a kick.
Nox got a near fall off a Roll-up then hit a wild Spinning European Uppercut. Kai dodged a Cannonball attempt then hit her Running Boot to Nox in the heel corner. Tags led to Sane being legal, the InSane Elbow-Reverse DDT combo and the victory for Damage CTRL.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Two fine tag matches on the show. The Dupri/Nile versus Hartwell/LeRae match was a little slow when LeRae was in (another moment of her hot/cold career) but the loss worked to tell the storyline. Either drop the story or turn Hartwell heel and it seems they’re going with the latter. Elsewhere Damage CTRL got a victory and showed their teamwork to have an edge against the makeshift team of opponents at Mania.
Elsewhere the short brawl was dare I say far more effective for the Ripley and Lynch feud than the talking segments and teasing face-offs we’ve seen over the past few weeks. Short, simple and did the job. A shame we didn’t get more of it to be honest with how poorly the title match has been built.
That’s your lot for this week! Be sure to stop by in seven days’ time for the always anticipated Raw After Mania edition of the RAW RECAP! See you then!