Welcome back to another edition of Monday Night Raw! Tonight we’re opening the show with women’s content right out the gate!
Rhea Rhipley is out to massive ovation! Boy was she missed! Rhea declares “Mami’s Home” and the crowd once again erupts. Rhea pushes the topic of Dom to side saying she’ll handle him later, but brings focus to something she never lost… the Women’s World Championship. Rhea calls out Liv only to be greeted by Papi…Dominik Mysterio (with a black rose, nice touch Dom but for all the shxt you pulled with Liv, you could’ve at least splurged on a bouquet).
Riply turns her back to Dominic and it seems like she can care less about anything he has to say but the segment quickly picks up when Liv appears on the screen!
Morgan apologizes for her raspy voices but lends it to having an active weekend and always being known as a screamer. Immediate tonal shift as Liv said she meant it when said she was going to take everything from Rhea. Apparently somewhere along the way Liv fell for Dirty D and despite Mami being home, she’s on top.
Rhea’s pissed now and declares once Liv steps in the ring with Rhea, the revenge tour ends.Then sets out the challenge at SummerSlam, Rhea Riply vs. Liv Morgan for the Women’s World Championship to a HUMONGOUS ovation!!
Backstage interview with Zelina who is quickly interrupted by Sonya, Zoey and Shayna. Deville scoffs at Vega for thinkings she’s still in the front of the line despite her loss to Morgan. Zelina claps back that she couldn’t hear passed Sonya her forehead, and I’m putting that delivery in my back pocket. Zelina lays out the challenge to Sonya and it’s next!
Sonya Deville vs. Zelina Vega
Sonya corners Vega, but Vega counters with a takedown. A dropkick positions Sonya for the 619! Zoey distracts the referee, Shayna grabs Vega’s arm and does her joint manipulation kick. Sonya then hits Deville’s Advocate, securing the pinfall victory in just under a minute.
Winner: Sonya
The heels beatdown Zelina after the match and then the Face divas (KC’s + Lyra) come to the rescue! This was some divas era foolery.
Shayna & Zoey w/ Sonya vs. Katana & Kayden w/ Lyra
Lyra is out with the KC’s dancing it up which is fun, can’t say she isn’t trying to make the most out of the opportunity. Shayna corners Carter and lands a hard right. Carter attempts an arm drag, but Baszler goes for a stomp. Carter escapes and lands a series of kicks before tagging in Chance. They double team Baszler but only get a near fall. After a series of moves, Chance tags Carter, who monkey flips her into Zoey for a near fall. The KC’s are zooming around the ring as we go into commercial!
Returning from the break, Chance dominates Zoey with kicks in the corner, Shayna tags in and hits a knee in the corner for another near fall. Chance & Carter attempt a finish, but Sonya distracts, allowing Lyra to intervene on the KC’s behalf. Zoey kicks Lyra away, and the heels ultimately take the win after Zoey launches Katana right into a knee by Shayna.
Winner: Zoey Stark & Shayna Baszler
The match was good but could’ve used a more engaged crown. Personally I feel like WWE has done a good job at creating interest over this new stable of Shayna, Zoey & Shayna so let’s give it some time.
That’s it in terms of women’s action, we get some more shenanigans in the Liv/Rhea story with Morgan intervening in Dom Dom’s match resulting in some more compromising positions between her and Dom. It’s gotten a bit gratuitous for my taste but the views keep coming in and now we have the ability to signal for Rhea so I get why they did that.
Returning from the break, Rhea tells Dom that she doesn’t belong to anyone, but he belongs to her. She hands him a flower and then walks away. Gonna leave this Segment of Jey Uso asking Rhea out below…
Nikki Cross/Abby the Witch has first full in-ring moment with the Wyatt Sicks as they come out to save Bo Dallas from Chad Gable and the newly formed stable with The Creed Brothers.
The Liv/Rhea stuff was very satisfying and yet still left me wanting more. Good stuff all around from the both of them and a strong argument can be made that the Women’s World Title should be the main event of SummerSlam. Not an episode of the red brand that heavily focused on the women though. No Damage CTRL, no Kiana James, Nattie just resigned so I’m not sure where she fits into creative atm. Nikki is present on the show with the Wyatt6 stuff but that’s a slow burn story. Hopefully her vignette airs next week. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I won’t be here tomorrow for NXT as I’ll be away on a work trip but shall return for Raw next week. See you then!
