Welcome one and all to the RAW RECAP presented by THE REVELLEUTION!
The Elimination Chamber event saw Rhea Ripley win the Women’s Chamber Match, booking her ticket to WrestleMania and a match with WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill (along with a potential brand switch to Smackdown in the process). Elsewhere, AJ Lee proved she never lost it as she became the new Women’s IC Champion. What’s next for the women of Raw as we head properly on the Road to WrestleMania? Let’s get into it, and find out…
This week’s ‘Arrived Earlier Today’ videos featured new Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ LEE with CM Punk, and LIV MORGAN and RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ with The Judgement Day.
Backstage, ASUKA reprimanded KAIRI SANE for not being in the Chamber match which Asuka claimed caused her to lose. Roughing up Sane before storming off, before a concerned AJ Lee walked up, asking Sane to ‘blink twice if she was OK’ before we got the usual Asuka ‘KAIRI’ yell.
The new Women’s IC Champion AJ Lee went to ring for a promo. Lee bragged about having only come back to snatch Becky Lynch’s hair and ended up snatching her title as well. She thanked the fans for having her back and said she beat one of the best in the world to become Championship material again. Lee said she wanted to be a fighting Champion and didn’t want to wait until WrestleMania. Lee called out the Women’s locker room to come at her, and vowed to defend the title the next time she stepped into the ring. No one came out to interrupt however and the segment ended with Lee skipping around the ring and posing with her title.
Liv Morgan had a promo video, mocking Stephanie Vaquer by saying she got signed at 20-years-old while Vaquer got rejected at her first tryout, and making fun of Vaquer working in ‘flea-infested rings’ before coming to WWE. Morgan said she’d give Vaquer the privilege of stepping into the ring at ‘Mania.
JACKIE REDMOND interviewed NATTIE who made a fake apology, saying she was sorry she ever allowed Dupri to train with her. Nattie called Dupri a bimbo who thought she was a killer, and said she had outlasted all the women she’d seen come and go. She threatened that Dupri didn’t belong in ‘her world’ and never would.
In the Clubhouse of The Judgement Day, Liv Morgan encouraged Raquel Rodriguez to challenge AJ Lee for the IC Title. There was more drama with the men to continue their storyline between Mysterio and Balor.
Backstage, BAYLEY lamented to LYRA VALKYRIA that she felt lost after recent setbacks. Valkyria talked her friend up, saying that stepping up to challenge AJ Lee would make sure she didn’t ‘miss’ WrestleMania like last year. Bayley was up for it, but pointed out that she ended up costing Valkyria that title last year and wanted her to come with her to talk to Adam Pearce. However, when they went to his office door, IYO SKY stepped out for a staredown with her former ally and rival Bayley.
Jackie Redmond would also interview RHEA RIPLEY (who had Iyo Sky with her) on the stage. Ripley said losing the tag titles sucked and put over Sky as her ‘best friend’, having a hug with her and thanking her for ‘pulling her out of a dark situation’. Sky gave the praise back and said she showed why Mami is always on top. Sky said she would be fine on her own on Raw, and told Ripley to win the title at ‘Mania. Ripley got serious and said she’d see Jade Cargill face-to-face on Smackdown and vowed to win the gold at Mania.
It was announced that there would be a Women’s Gauntlet Match to determine the Number One Contender for the Women’s IC Title next week. Participants would be Asuka, Bayley, Ivy Nile, Iyo Sky, Lyra Valkyria and Raquel Rodriguez.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
For the first time in recent memory there were no Women’s Matches on Raw at all, which is a major disappointment. I can’t say it was fully balanced either with the large number of talking segments or the Morgan promo video either as a lot of it felt rushed and forced. Proof of that was the lazy Rhiyo breakup segment that felt like sweeping the team right under the rug very quickly. Granted, there’s several weeks of time to fill before ‘Mania now but it’s one thing to do proper builds and another to just toss in an interview for the Hell of it. We can only hope some proper work is done next week, and we’ll likely get that with the Gauntlet contendership match.
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!
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