Welcome one and all to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION! The calendar year is nearly over but the action doesn’t stop on Raw. With the upcoming Saturday Night’s Main Event TV special this week and the ongoing Women’s IC title tournament. Add in a ‘Anything Goes’ clash between powerhouses Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez for this week’s show. So what’s next for the women of the Red Brand? Let’s get into it, and find out…
RHEA RIPLEY got the ‘arrived earlier today’ video treatment as did LIV MORGAN and RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ with Dominik Mysterio. Also NATALYA and MAXXINE DUPRI with Alpha Academy gave The New Day the cold shoulder after the events of last week that saw Big E kicked out of the group.
The Judgement Day were left furious backstage when GM Adam Pearce informed Finn Balor his title match at SNME would now be a Triple Threat Match, and he’d have to defend the tag titles next week with The Judgement Day banned from ringside. Liv Morgan, playing off of remarks from last week, taunted Balor when she asked for advice for her match later since he was so ‘in control’ of things.
SCARLETT accompanied The Final Testament and The Miz for their Eight-Man Tag Team Match. During the match, Scarlett interfered to trip up Uncle Howdy but NIKKI CROSS appeared from behind to attack her, leading to a Thesz Press off the ring steps to Scarlett. The return of manager Paul Ellering with a powder shot allowed Karrion Kross to steal the win over Uncle Howdy.
JACKIE REDMOND and CATHY KELLEY handled interview duties.
Non-Title Singles Match
Women’s World Champion LIV MORGAN defeated DAKOTA KAI
Both women came out alone. Morgan used a hair pull to escape a Headlock before a bit of rope work was done, leading to a pair of Arm Drags by Kai followed by a Snapmare then a PerfectMare. A Jackknife Hold got a near fall for Kai. Kai would be sent over the top rope and down to the floor as Liv countered a corner charge before the show went to a commercial break.
Back to live action, and Pure Fusion Collective of SHAYNA BASZLER, SONYA DEVILLE and ZOEY STARK invited themselves to ringside. Playing off of events on screen and through WWE videos between Kai and the group. Meanwhile, Liv Morgan went for her version of Dominik Mysterio’s Three Amigos but took too much time taunting as Kai hit a Suplex of her own to counter the third. Kai went House on Fire with Forearm strikes, two Clotheslines then a Dropkick. A Facewash soon followed then the Spingboard Stomp to Morgan through the ropes to get a two count.
Kai hit the Scorpion Kick to Morgan, but when Stark tried to interfere Kai hopped over the trip attempted and kicked Stark through the ropes before she hit a kick along the apron to Baszler. Morgan tried for ObLIVion when Kai got back into the ring but Kai countered with a Roll-up for just a count of one, before Morgan hit a Codebreaker. Morgan hit a Running Knee to Kai in a corner, but a follow-up Leap of Faith was countered into a Sit-Out Powerbomb.
Deville got on the apron to distract and took a kick for her troubles from Kai (who then had to shove Deville off because she only half sold the shot). It provided a break enough that Morgan avoided Kai’s Running Corner Kick and ObLIVion soon after got Morgan the tainted win.
After the match, PFC looked to rough up Kai as Deville hit some mount punches. IYO SKY and KAIRI SANE ran out to even things up as Sane dragged Deville out while Sky after a backflip hit a Double Dropkick to Stark and Baszler.Sky provided an assist to help Sane climb the ropes to hit a Crossbody from the top to wipe out PFC on the floor. However, as Sky celebrated, Liv Morgan snuck up from behind to hit an ObLIVion that spiked Sky on her head as a warning ahead of their SNME clash for the Women’s World Championship.
Triple Threat Match – Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament First-Round Match
LYRA VALKYRIA defeated ZELINA VEGA & IVY NILE
Vega only had part of her entrance televised while Nile didn’t even get an entrance. Vega hit Nile with a Dropkick after the bell, and Valkyria got just a count of one off a Roll-up on Vega. Vega came back with a unique Springboard into a Facebuster over her knee to Valkyria then a low Spin Kick. Vega hit the 619 but while on the apron Nile hauled her down to the floor, then rushed in to hit Valkyria with a Tilt-a-whirl Slam off the ropes for a near fall.
After a commercial break, Valkyria did what seems to be a new taunt to raising her arms repeatedly to get the crowd to do the ‘Woooo’ sound during her entrance before she hit her Dropkick through the ropes to both opponents. She brought Nile in to hit a Tornado DDT, floated over into a Fisherman’s Buster for a near fall. Nile countered Nightwing with a Crucifix into an Arm Bar attempt, which in turn would be countered with a Roll-up for a near fall. The women struggled for position in a grounded drip and that allowed Vega to hit a somewhat messy Senton from off the middle rope but she only got two counts from both opponents.
Vega slid out of the ring to hit a nice Sunset Flip that sent Nile into the crowd barricade. Vega hit a Meteora from the middle rope to Valkyria but Nile broke up the pin attempt. Nile then caught a Crossbody off the middle rope attempt by Vega and turned it into her Swinging Side Slam but Valkyria broke up the pin. Nile showed off her strength with a Double German Suplex that tossed Valkyria as she held Vega to hit a German on her, but Nile kept the bridge on Valkyria for a near fall. After an exchange of grips, Nile hit a Back Suplex on Valkyria for a two count. Vega hit Code Red on Nile but Valkyria broke up the pin.
With Vega out of the ring off the break up, Valkyria hit Nightwing on Nile to win and advance to the next round. She will face the winner of the Alba Fyre versus Kairi Sane versus Natalya Triple Threat Match.
Anything Goes Match
RHEA RIPLEY defeated RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ
Rodriguez came out alone and Ripley didn’t have the protective face mask on. Ripley ran up the aisle to attack Rodriguez during her entrance and the bell hadn’t rung yet as the two brawled through the crowd. Rodriguez was tossed to ringside and then Ripley threw a plastic trash can at her. Inside the ring, which was already littered with chairs and Kendo Sticks, the bell officially rang as Ripley used a Kendo Stick to strike Rodriguez. Rodriguez managed to catch a Stick shot to disarm Ripley and shove her back but soon after Ripley hit a Missile Dropkick.
Ripley hit a Dropkick through the ropes but took a little too much time playing to the fans after it and then as she tried to bring out a table. That allowed Rodriguez to strike and then hit a Fallaway Slam that sent Ripley onto and then over the announce desk.
After a commercial break, both women hit Big Boots to take each other down. Ripley hit Head Kicks and then tossed a chair for Rodriguez to catch just to Dropkick it into her. Rodriguez barely managed to hit an Alley-Ooop spot to send Ripley into the top turnbuckle for a near fall. The botches continued with a completed screwed up Kingdom Falls attempt onto a set-up chair, and Ripley had to cover for it with a follow up chair shot before she got a near fall.
As Ripley stacked up a chair pile and looked for Riptide, Liv Morgan ran out to distract and got hauled into the ring over the ropes. It worked to give Rodriguez the chance for a cheap shot Big Boot. A Bodyclam onto the chairs gave Rodriguez a near fall. She tried for a Tejana Bomb onto the legs of a chair but Ripley escaped and tried again for Riptide only for Morgan to lock on a Back Sleeper. Ripley tossed her off and cut off Rodriguez with a Superkick but Morgan managed to hit ObLIVion on Ripley.
Iyo Sky ran out to get revenge from earlier and hit a Springboard Missile Dropkick to Morgan followed by a wild Suicide Dive. Rodriguez only got a near fall off of Morgan’s work. Ripley would toss Rodriguez into a chair that Rodriguez had set up in a corner earlier (during the commercials I assume) and then hit a Riptide through a table to win. The show went off the air as both Ripley and Iyo Sky held the Women’s World title and had a stare down over the gold.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
A rough main event marred by botches and honestly a lack of time since it was all super rushed, as shown by weapons being all over the ring right from the start. It gave Ripley a long overdue match on Raw and a win, but the match itself wasn’t good and I don’t think the blame can be put on Rodriguez either. The other matches were solid with a nice showcase win for Morgan but the outcome of the Triple Threat was obvious with one competitor only getting half an entrance and another getting none at all. It continues to feel like the Women’s IC title isn’t being treated as special as it should be even with the tournament. We can only hope things improve once we reach the Semi-Final stage and beyond. That being said, we had three women’s matches on the same show. Let’s hope that amount of matches continues especially when Raw returns to three hours on the new home of Netflix in the New Year.
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!