Welcome one and all to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION!
The Survivor Series event is just days away and we’ve got the Women’s WarGames Match set after the events of Smackdown. Confirming that AJ Lee will be the fifth member of Team Rhiyo with Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair. Going against Asuka, Kairi Sane, Nia Jax, Lash Legend and their final member of Lee’s rival Becky Lynch, following Lee’s distraction that cost Lynch the Women’s IC title last week. So who will get the last laugh on Raw this week ahead of the all-important Advantage Match on Smackdown? And what’s in store for our new IC Champ Maxxine Dupri? Let’s get into it, and find out…
This week’s ‘Arrived Earlier Today’ videos included BECKY LYNCH.
Backstage RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ complained to Raw General Manager Adam Pearce about Nikki Bella sneaking in line to get a title shot. Pearce claimed Rodriguez would be ‘in the mix’ for a title shot after Survivor Series which seemed to satisfy Rodriguez for now.
Becky Lynch went to the ring for a promo, soon followed by NIA JAX and LASH LEGEND then The Kabuki Warriors of ASUKA and KAIRI SANE. Lynch took the lead for the promo and ranted first about losing the Women’s IC title, claiming she had her lawyers working on it. Soon turning her attention to AJ Lee, vowing to remove her from WWE but when Lynch claimed she assembled the greatest team it drew less than pleased looks. Asuka didn’t react too much when Lynch back-handedly said she had to work hard to beat Asuka plenty of times in the past and made Asuka do the ‘KAIRI!’ yell and claimed that she ‘saved her life’ in the past. Jax didn’t seem too flattered by Lynch’s choices of words about being more powerful than her before the face breaking incident was referenced and she made fun of Ripley needing a face mask. Lynch claimed she was going to take Legend under her wing and make her a star.
Finally, the faces came out of RHEA RIPLEY, IYO SKY, CHARLOTTE FLAIR, ALEXA BLISS and AJ LEE. Lee had the mic and mocked Lynch for being insecure with all her insults and said she didn’t need to bark, bark, bark and would bite instead. Lee said she’d let the ‘old’ AJ Lee out to do whatever she wanted in the steel cage. When Lee handed the mic to Ripley, she instead used it for a cheap shot to strike Nia Jax to kick off a mass brawl which saw Lee and Lynch go at it. Legend easily overpowered Sky with a big double handed choke lift to toss her into a corner. Bliss would hit a strike combo on Sane, finished with a Basement Dropkick while Lee tossed Lynch shoulder-first into a ring post.
Flair would send Asuka out with a Big Boot, only to be rocked by a Legend Knee Strike that set up a Clothesline by Jax. Bliss and Lee would lock on Back Sleepers to Legend and Jax, eventually both tossed off but the damage had been done to allow Flair and Ripley to send them out with Big Boots. Iyo Sky would hit a Moonsault to wipe out the heels apart from Lynch who tellingly ran away like a coward and would yell from the aisle while the faces held the ring.
New Women’s IC Champion MAXXINE DUPRI was all smiles backstage talking to Adam Pearce. Dupri vowed to put in the work and would call Natalya about it, but when she walked off, her old rival IVY NILE got right in her face, vowing the title would be hers. Dupri was shook but soon got confronted by Raquel Rodriguez and ROXANNE PEREZ as Perez mocked her for the title win, saying she could take it all away from her. Dupri was only saved with Adam Pearce, stealing the heat, to force the heels to leave as Dupri seemingly quickly made that call.
STEPHANIE VAQUER had a promo video, talking about the betrayal by Nikki Bella. Saying, both in English and her native tongue through subtitles, that people told her not to trust Bella. She mocked Bella for not being as smart as she pretended to be and vowed to make her pay.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This is the first Raw in months where there wasn’t a single women’s match on the live show, and that’s incredibly dissapointing. Sure, there were the promos and hype videos which were better than nothing but the lack of matches was felt. The WarGames segment was fine with a brawl that did the trick more than Lynch’s lacking rant. The backstage segment with Dupri set the stage that Dupri is a little out of her league with challengers ready to pounce, and I wonder if the Natalya call lines (which might have answered the questions from weeks back about who Dupri was on about when she said she needed to make a call) will only set up Natalya being a future challenger if Natalya turns on Dupri. The Vaquer video was a miss and it made the World title match feel second rate and a rushed match to get it onto the card. I don’t have high hopes for the match itself at Survivor Series but hopefully I’m proven wrong.
That’s your lot for this week! Be sure to stop by in seven days’ time for the post-Survivor Series edition of the RAW RECAP! See you then!