Welcome one and all to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION!
The Wrestlepalooza event is just days away, with major matches to decide the vacant Women’s World Championship and the dream Mixed Tag Team Match of AJ Lee and CM Punk against Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins. Who will have the last laugh ahead of the Premium Live Event? Let’s get into it, and find out…
This week’s ‘Arrived Earlier Today’ videos included STEPHANIE VAQUER, and Women’s Intercontinental Champion BECKY LYNCH along with The Vision.
Singles Match
LYRA VALKYRIA defeated ROXANNE PEREZ w/h RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ
A long collar-and-elbow tie-up started the match and saw both women take the grip to the mat and swap advantage before the hold was broken for a stalemate. Perez pie-faced Valkyria a couple of times and got a Waistlock Takedown for her trouble. After a Headlock Takeover by Valkyria then the Headscissors counter by Perez, Valkyria briefly sold her back being hurt (the commentators put over that her back was worked over all match last week) before she was taken down by the arm as Perez turned a La Magistral into a European Clutch for a near fall.
Valkyria would use a slide between the legs to lead to a European Clutch of her own, but sold the back midway through and only got a two count. Perez faked out wanting a knuckle lock just to hit a Knee Strike. Some rope running and drop downs followed before Perez held the ropes as Valkyria did a back roll, and took advantage to level a kick into Valkyria’s hurt back. Valkyria would fight back with a vault back out of a corner from a whip, a Legsweep then a Basement Dropkick. A Crossbody got Valkyria a two count.
Valkyria ran the ropes and in full view of the referee, Rodriguez tripped up Valkyria which led to Rodriguez being ejected from ringside. As Rodriguez argued with the ref, Perez scooped up Valkyria with a 120% Rollup but with the ref distracted, by the time the count was made Valkyria could kick out at two. Valkyria would counter being sent to the floor and tossed Perez instead, setting things up for the Dropkick through the ropes. Valkyria took her time, partly thanks to the hurt back, going up top and by the time she got there, Perez swept the leg for the back of the head hitting the corner spot. Perez hit wild, clubbing blows and screamed as she hit them.
Perez choked Valkyria on the ropes, then set her along the bottom cable at the corner to stand on the back and hit a stop but going for a pin, Valkyria grabbed the rope to break. Perez tossed Valkyria on the ropes to hit her European Uppercut, and set Valkyria on her stomach so the Double-Springboard Lionsault landed on the bad back for a near fall. Perez tried for perhaps a Suplex but Valkyria countered with a Back Body Drop. Valkyria went House on Fire with Clotheslines, her strike combo finished with an Enzigiri, then a Northern Lights Suplex. She floated over after the Northern but the back gave out going for a Fisherwoman’s Suplex.
An exchange of pinholds gave both a near fall. Valkyria hit Perez with a slightly delayed Sit-out Doctor Bomb for a two count. Valkyria went up top but this time Perez bailed to the apron to stop whatever was planned, forcing Valkyria to hop down and go after Perez from in the ring. A Suplex back inside was blocked by Perez, and it led to a Frankenscreamer off the ropes that in turn set up for the Satomura Special for a near fall.
Perez locked on a Crossface and pushed off the ropes to try and roll the hold back and keep it locked. Valkyria used that momentum, despite her ‘hurt’ lower back, to muscle up Perez and hit Nightwing for the clean victory.
After the match, Valkyria was attacked from behind in the aisle by Rodriguez, who then leveled Valkyria with a Big Boot in the ring. Perez would hit a Bang Kick then PopRox. BAYLEY made her return when she, wearing an AJ Lee merch T-shirt, ran to the ring and went after Rodriguez with Forearm Strikes. She hit Perex with a Back Suplex then a Stundog Millionaire on Rodriguez before she side-stepped a charge that sent Rodriguez into the ring post. Bayley tapped into her Hugger side and hit the Shoulder Thrust to Perez, followed by the roll back and the arm wave before she landed a Jumping Back Elbow. The Bayley-to-Belly landed on Perez to send her packing.
Valkyria looked confused and Bayley pressed fingers to her temples, selling the internal conflict storyline. She ignored Valkyria and rushed out of the ring, hugging the commentary team and then the ring announcer and even the referee, fans and a security guard got hugs. Further freaking out Valkyria who watched on as Bayley rushed up the aisle.
Backstage, General Manager Adam Pearce seemingly had wrapped up the cancelled from last week contract signing between STEPHANIE VAQUER and IYO SKY. Things were respectful as Vaquer wanted the best woman to win but Sky vowed to win. Just as they had a handshake, ASUKA (of course) along with KAIRI SANE interrupted as Asuka, despite Sky’s protests, barked that Vaquer wasn’t ready for Sky. Vaquer firmly told Asuka to get out of her face and that led to Asuka faking out a challenge, instead saying that Vaquer would face Sane tonight much to Sane’s shock. Vaquer accepted and the match was made official as Sane put on a boxer stance, only to flee when Asuka yelled for Sane to follow.
Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins went to the ring for the face-to-face segment. After a big introduction by Rollins, Lynch claimed she would only say what she had to say to their faces which made AJ LEE along with CM Punk interrupt. Punk would start by praising his wife and then insulting their rivals. Questioning if Rollins and Lynch can be on the same page and share the spotlight. Rollins called bringing Lee back the biggest mistake of Punk’s life.
Lee spoke up and said she wouldn’t be here if Rollins didn’t use Lynch as a human shield. Lynch complained that no one thought Lee would come back and called Punk irresponsible. Lynch questioned if Lee’s neck was good and referenced Lee’s book about her past injuries. Lynch threatened to pummel Lee’s face in and called Lee a liability. Lee had a great line thanking Lynch for reading her book and said she didn’t read hers. Lee claimed she didn’t know how her neck would hold up and said ‘it was ten years since she took a bump’. Lee tapped into her unhinged side and said sometimes she ‘shanks a chick’ and said Rollins can’t plan for something he can’t predict.
Rollins referenced Punk’s past and implied that Punk would leave Lee if she let him down. That got Rollins slapped across the face. Rollins tried to use what Punk did to him a couple weeks back, saying he wouldn’t put his hands on a woman but had someone who could. Lynch didn’t bite and it led to her and Rollins mouthing off, not on the same page. When Rollins said that this was all Lynch’s fault, Lynch stormed out of the ring in fury but it was all a ruse as when Punk chased after Rollins, Lynch sneaked back in and levelled Lee with a Man-Handle Slam. Slapping Punk a couple of times before she and Rollins gloated in the aisle as Punk checked over Lee.
Backstage, Lyra Valkyria approached Bayley’s locker room but heard Bayley yelling at herself/her past selves talking about ‘she needed our help’. Valkyria would walk in but Bayley appeared calm and didn’t know what Valkyria was on about when she asked who she was talking to. When Valkyria thanked Bayley for helping her earlier, Bayley responded angrily in full evil Role Model mode, yelling about her being an idiot and storming in without asking (she did knock on the door, though) and stormed off, leaving Valkyria as shook up as she had been earlier on.
Backstage, RHEA RIPLEY confronted Stephanie Vaquer and warned that she was coming after whoever won the World title, to which Vaquer said she was ready for Mami.
Singles Match
STEPHANIE VAQUER defeated KAIRI SANE w/h ASUKA
The match began with a brief lock-up that backed Sane to the ropes, followed by arm holds and mat work, broken up when Vaquer hit some grounded Forearm shots. More technical wrestling followed with holds exchanged on the mat before both when went for Dropkicks at the same time, followed by a face-off. Sane offered a handshake, which infuriated Asuka at ringside. Vaquer ducked a Cutlass attempt and Sane ducked a Head Kick. Sane used misdirection to hit her vault-back Headscissors Takeover and then hit a ‘glancing blow’ Dropkick.
Sane hit a Sliding D on the ropes and eventually got a near fall. Vaquer was on the apron and Sane slid through the legs, trying for a Powerbomb but Vaquer held the ropes and broke free to hit a Knee Drop with Sane trapped against the apron. Asuka faced-off with Vaquer on the floor but it wasn’t a distraction enough as Vaquer back inside hit a Knee Strike against the ropes then a Snapmare to set up for a Leg Drop for a two count. Vaquer controlled with Headbutts, a Suplex, then a Chinlock into a Dragon Sleeper resthold before another Headbutt.
Sane would counter being whipped by hopping up onto the corner, using a counter boot to stun Vaquer before he choked Vaquer with her Figure Four Headscissors over the top rope. Later, Vaquer uniquely countered a Back Elbow in the corner with a grip before she slammed Sane’s head into the top turnbuckle with almost a Snapmare Driver. A Running Dropkick followed to set up a corner Meteora. Vaquer tried for SVB and hit a Forearm to stun. Polish Hammers then a punch followed to lead to a Headhunter by Sane. Sane hit the Sliding D in the corner but going up top she had to land on her feet when Vaquer avoided the leap and then hit a DDT on Sane. A Samson Clutch got Vaquer a near fall.
Vaquer wanted Devil’s Kiss but Sane countered with a Samson Clutch for a near fall. Sane countered a Suplex with a rough DDT and went up for InSane Elbow but Vaquer got up and caught Sane up top. It led to a Double Stomp spot with Vaquer caught up in the ropes for a two count. Sane tried for a Waterwheel Slam and Vaquer countered with a Sunset Flip for a near fall. Sane landed a couple of Cutlass shot but Vaquer ducked the third and hit a trio of strikes and right after the Dragon Screw at the ropes. Vaquer went high risk and hit a Crossbody from the top onto both Sane and Asuka on the floor.
Back in the ring, Vaquer hit Devil’s Kiss the full ten times. Vaquer then hit a new move, a Double Underhook into a driver/facebuster across her knees that the announcers still called the SVB (the original SVB was a Double Underhook Backbreaker) and got the win.
After the match, Asuka looked ready to pick a fight with Vaquer. Iyo Sky however would run out and got between Asuka and her title match opponent, having a yelling match with Asuka before Asuka reluctantly backed away. A handshake exchanged between Sky and Vaquer to end the segment.
Backstage, Asuka and Iyo Sky yelled again as Asuka shouted that she wanted to make Sky champion. Sky said she needed to do this on her own and Asuka, reluctantly said ‘fine’ but Sky didn’t seem thrilled regardless.
In The Judgement Day’s clubhouse with Rodriguez and Perez, they celebrated Dominik Mysterio being double champ but there was more friction with Balor complaining about El Grande Americano.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Two great matches on Raw this week. Several weeks overdue but we’ve finally got some decent hype for the Women’s World title match at ‘Palooza. It’s a shame they couldn’t have done this the past few weeks too but we’ll take this week over nothing. No doubt the women will make up for the lost time with a great match. It’s funnty that other sites claimed Vaquer was going to undergo a ‘presentation change’ but all that’s happened is a new finisher called the same as the old one. Meanwhile, we’re seeing full force the Bayley split personality storyline and I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out as it’s something different to what we’ve seen in WWE before. Lastly, it was a solid promo with AJ Lee, Becky Lynch and their husbands. It remains to be seen if Lee can deliver in the ring after ten years or if she should have left the memories alone.
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!