Tonight’s special Tuesday episode of AEW Dynamite:
Britt Baker was supposed to only face Willow but is unable to compete.
As reported earlier, WWE will he on a UK tour next week, so they went ahead and taped the Raw for Oct. 14. So here’s the results courtesy of of Cagematch.
Hey everyone! Phonie here with another Raw recap and I’m ngl it felt like I was walking into yesteryear to get used to this new format of the show. Let’s jump right in!
Rhea Ripley wasn’t exactly shocked that Liv Morgan pulled a fast one to hold onto her title. But Liv’s crafty little move only managed to hit the snooze button on Rhea’s inevitable takeover.
Raquel Rodriguez rolled into the arena with Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio tagging along. Liv was practically cackling over how Rhea still hasn’t snagged that championship. They all bailed after that, and we’re still left wondering if Raquel’s officially joined The Judgment Day.
Meanwhile, in a slice of NXT drama, GM Ava made her Raw appearance alongside Adam Pearce, just as former NXT Champion Ethan Page stormed in to complain about CM Punk’s antics in his title match last week. And right on cue, Sexxy Red made a surprise entrance.
Unholy Union/Pure Fusion Collective vs. Kayden Carter, Katana Chance, Natalya, Zelina Vega, and Lyra Valkyria.
Stark kicked things off—literally—sparking a giant brawl that spilled out of the ring faster than you could say commercial break. After the dust settled, Natalya crawled over to tag Vega, who came in like a house on fire. Vega stomped a mudhole in Deville, and we were treated to the usual parade of knockdowns. Valkyria wrapped it up with a top-rope axe kick to pin Deville and seal the win.
Winners: The Face Divas
This was your classic “cram ten women into seven minutes and hope for the best match.” Not much room for anyone to really shine here, but Valkyria picking up the pin might just be the momentum she needs to bounce back.
Finally, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill vignette aired. The Tag Team Champions are gearing up for a showdown against Damage CTRL next week.
Due to WWE’s upcoming UK tour, Raw’s taping for Oct. 14 is taking place on Oct. 7.
Courtesy of Fightful Select, below you will see the rundown.
Two NXT talents took part in the Main Event tapings from Oct. 7.
Sol Ruca vs. Tatum Paxley
Tonight’s Raw will serve as the fall out from Bad Blood.
Liv Morgan is still the Women’s World Champion after a returning Raquel Rodriguez took out Rhea Ripley.
We are also back down to a 2 hour Raw for the first time since 2012.
Feel free to chat below.
Cora Jade made her return after eight months of being out with an injury last week.
On the CW Network premiere of NXT last week, Jade emerged as an unlikely ally to help Roxanne Perez retain the NXT Women’s Title against Giulia. Jade admits she’s had her ups and downs with Perez but admitted that she likes this newer version of the champion.
Jade posts on her social media –
“A little over 8 months ago I tore my ACL, MCL, & both parts of my meniscus. Whether it’s 5 minutes after surgery or 8 months, it’s all I think about. None of you want it more than me. See you in St Louis.”
NXT’s Meta-Four, Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson, aren’t too happy with the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Ahead of Bad Blood in Atlanta, Legend & Jackson were out in the crowd. They claim that wherever they go, Cargill and Belair seem to follow. Meta-Four hosted Stand & Deliver and now the tag champs are hosting Bad Blood. Cargill & Belair even arrived in Chicago last week at NXT to help the Women’s North American Champion Kelani Jordan. The three champions will face Fatal Influence this Tuesday.
Legend & Jackson say that they don’t see the champs defending the gold and feel that they are plenty qualified to challenge Belair & Cargill for the title.
Legend & Jackson did challenge for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles when the Unholy Union were champions in a losing effort.
Britt Baker will be taking on Willow Nightingale this Tuesday on AEW Dynamite on a special night. The winner will be facing the AEW Women’s World Champion Mariah May at Wrestle Dream. May was told this backstage.
Also set will be Mercedes Moné defending both of her titles against Emi Sakura.
Raquel Rodriguez made her return at Bad Blood and assisted her former tag team partner Liv Morgan by causing a disqualification. This left Rhea Ripley with the win, but Morgan still as champion.
With Dominik Mysterio literally hanging out of the shark cage hanging from above the ramp, Ripley was brutalizing him with a kendo stick. Rodriguez would emerge as help and took out Ripley. This caused the disqualification, although it is being reported that this was supposed to be done behind the referee’s back and Morgan still pinning Ripley.
Elsewhere at Bad Blood, Nia Jax retained the WWE Women’s Title against Bayley. Tiffany Stratton showed up towards the end of the match when Jax was laid out as well as the referee. Bayley could have won as she has Jax pinned.
Stratton went after Bayley with the briefcase and then once both women were down, she tried to revive the referee to cash in. However, Jax sat up Undertaker style which caused an argument between her and Stratton.
Once Bayley was back up, she was on the turnbuckle as the referee was handling Jax. Stratton tossed the briefcase at Bayley, distracting her. Jax hit a samoan drop off the ropes followed by the annihilator to get the pin.
Now that bot Jax and Morgan have retained, if they are still champions come Nov. 2, they will face off in a Champion vs. Champion match at Crown Jewel.
WWE Legends Mickie James, Lilian Garcia, and Jacqueline were in attendance.
The hosts, the Big 3 (Naomi, Bianca Belair, and Jade Cargill) had a segment where they smelled something awful. It was Chelsea Green still smelling of dumpster after her loss against Michin on Friday’s SmackDown. She was told to leave and wanted Piper Niven to join her, but Piper decided to stay for the party in the suite.
With Survivor Series now being taken over by WarGames, we will still see Champion vs. Champion, but now at Crown Jewel.
In one month on Nov. 2 in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, Crown Jewel will take place. For both the women and the men, a Champion vs. Champion match will take place. At the time of this writing, if champions remain the same by Nov. 2, we will have the Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan facing the WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax.
Neither title will be on the line, but the announcement made by Triple H includes a title of all titles. The winner will receive the Crown Jewel Championship. Triple H did mention that this will take place annually.
Women’s World Title
Liv Morgan (c) vs. Rhea Ripley – Dominik Mysterio will be in a shark cage
WWE Women’s Title
Kris Statlander has been playing the role of heel ever since she turned on Willow Nightingale earlier this year at AEW’s Double or Nothing. Since then, she’s had her feud with Nightingale while having Stokely Hathaway firmly by her side.
As of this week’s Rampage episode on Oct. 4, Statlander is now poised for a baby face turn. She appeared, without Hathaway in a backstage interview when she was confronted by Kamille who was on the way to the ring for her match. The TBS Champion Mercedes Moné following Kamille calling Statlander a bitch and telling her to watch.
Statlander is a former TBS Champion and is the one who ended Jade Cargill’s over 500 day reign.
In a report by Fightful Select, it does seem as though we are heading towards Moné vs. Statlander.
Kris Statlander appeared on the AEW Collision tapings where she appeared to be in line to face TBS Champion Mercedes Mone. This signifies a big shift in her character, as she’s been a heel for a number of months.
When Fightful inquired about the change, we’re told that Statlander’s alliance with Stokely Hathaway appears to be finished on screen, at least as of this week. Stokely Hathaway was seen on screen watching Private Party’s match on AEW Dynamite.
Statlander hadn’t wrestled in about a month since AEW All Out, and we’re told she had been dealing with a minor injury, but got cleared.
Kamille defeated Zoey Lynn in 19 seconds proving a point to Statlander.
We’ve reached the return of the Bad Blood premium live event and there are two women’s championship matches on the card. Plus, The Big 3 (Naomi, Bianca Belair, and Jade Cargill), are set to host the event.
The show has a special start time of 6 PM ET, so don’t be late!!
Women’s World Title
Liv Morgan (c) vs. Rhea Ripley – Dominik Mysterio will be in a shark cage
WWE Women’s Title
Here’s the Diva Dirt staff’s predictions –
Women’s World Title
NICK: I have continuously been a Liv Morgan fan for quite some time now. I do enjoy how she has firmly cemented herself as a top star. I will say though that this feud with Rhea has been lacking. This match should 100% have been either a HIAC, first blood match, or something.
It is obvious that this feud is going to continue into WarGames because nothing else but Team Liv vs. Team Rhea makes logical sense unless they strum something up in a month. With that being said, that HAS to be where this feud ends. They also need to start building someone else up to face Liv afterwards. So with that, I am agreeing with the staff that Morgan is retaining.
WINNER: Liv Morgan
ALGEO: Contrary to some opinions I read, I’m really enjoying Liv as champion. I believe all of this is pure entertainment and somehow, someway, Dom and Liv will have a plan up their sleeve once again. This version of Liv has proved she will do anything it takes to win, especially against her arch-nemesis. So we’ll just have to wait and see.
WINNER: Liv Morgan
JOEY: The new Judgement Day ensemble seems to just be finding its footing, so taking the title off Liv here wouldn’t feel like the right call, at least not for me. The gimmick of the match is Dominik being trapped in a shark cage which brings more focus to him rather than deter it bc I’m sure he’ll still find a way to help Liv pick up the win. While it seems like a longshot, I could see WWE trying to have an “intergender” WarGames this year with Rhipley getting the pin on Dominik. One day we’ll be rid of Dirty D in the Women’s World Title scene once and for all but it won’t be this weekend.
WINNER: Liv Morgan
WWE Women’s Title
NICK: Much like the Raw side, we aren’t seeing anything new with a Nia vs. Bayley match. The difference is that there IS someone else waiting. And that is Tiffany Stratton. There’s also a looming sense of a heel Naomi also coming up. So to me, this is far more interesting than Liv vs. Rhea. I think it will take more time to cook to get either Tiffany to cash-in or get Naomi to turn. So Nia is retaining for now.
WINNER: Nia Jax
ALGEO: I think it’s too soon for Nia to lose the title upfront here. Nia has a lot of opportunity to do more and at this point in time I don’t think Bayley has been built enough for her to take the title back. Of course, the cash-in is looming in the background. But, I’m not too sure if this is the right moment for Tiffany to take the reign at this PLE.
WINNER: Nia Jax
JOEY: There’s a good story leading up to this match but at no point have I gotten the impression that Bayley will be regaining the Women’s Championship from Jax. What I’m most intrigued by is whether it’s going to be Tiffany or Naomi that play into the finish. Naomi gave Bayley her blessing after taking a clean loss this past Friday, and I feel like their friendship has been established enough at this point where it’d be interesting to start seeing more significant cracks in the foundation.
Tiffany on the other hand is biding her time following Jax around whereas Jax has been in this situationship with a gold hungry backstabbing bestie before and has taken the route of keeping Stratton close. There’s more gas left in the tank between Nia/Tiffany, so it’s Bayley who should come out of this match with a new storyline arc after coming up short.
WINNER: Nia Jax
Don’t forget to check back with Diva Dirt during show time to discuss the show live!
This week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown on the USA Network emanated from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Tensions are running high in the women’s division on Team Blue. Friendships are beginning to strain for Tiffany Stratton, and after last week, could potentially spell trouble for Naomi. Two women in Chelsea Green and Michin fought over trash, while the top treasure in the division remains a point of contention for Nia Jax and Bayley.
The women’s action kicked off when officials brought out a big dumpster to the ring, which would only mean that the dumpster match between Chelsea Green and Michin was about to take place. After a commercial break, Alicia Taylor would explain the rules: there are no disqualifications and no count-outs, the only way to win the match is to throw your opponent into the dumpster and close the lid. Green would make her way out first, clad in sanitation-themed gear, followed by Michin, carrying with her a trash can and kendo sticks.
Michin would start by unleashing an assault on Green, hitting her several times with a kendo stick, a suicide dive, and a baking sheet. A Canadian Destroyer from Green would nearly lead to Michin losing, but she would not back down, and would cover Green with a trash can, before flying from the top turnbuckle and flattening the can with Green’s face still inside. With momentum continuing to build for Michin, she would take out a table and put it on top of the dumpster, but as commentary tried to decipher what her intentions were, out came Piper Niven in similar sanitation worker attire and attacking her. Green would get up and give her a kick, but Michin would block each of her attacks and would powerbomb her through the table that was perched on top of the dumpster, with her ultimately closing the lid and winning to loud fanfare from the crowd, while Green freaked out being covered in sewage.
Naomi was backstage prepping for her match with Tiffany Stratton when Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill showed up to announce to her that after speaking to Nick Aldis, the three of them will be hosting Bad Blood together! The trio squeals and starts to do a little celebratory dance when Bayley enters the shot, wanting to talk to her friend. The noticeably displeased tag champs leave and Bayley says to Naomi that she’s planning on going out to the ring to call out Nia Jax, reassuring her that when she beats Jax for the Women’s Championship, that she will be first in line to challenge her.
The Role Model enters the ring afterwards to cut a promo on her Bad Blood opponent. She’s in Nia Jax’s ring and she can even bring Tiffany Stratton! Needless to say, both arrive, and the Queen of the Ring winner lets her opponent know that if she’s got something to say, to say it to her face. Bayley says that for as long as she’s known Jax, she has never understood the significance and importance of the championship that rests on her shoulder compared to women like her, who grew up loving the business and desired to eventually be Women’s Champion among the likes of Molly Holly, Victoria, Beth Phoenix, Natalya, Trish Stratus, and Lita. To Bayley, the title was larger than life and its holders more than human, and that ain’t Nia. As much as it pains her to admit, none of those women got to have a dominant title reign like Jax has, and Bayley admits that she could be on her way to becoming one of the most dominant, if not the most dominant champion in all of WWE. But the facts are that there are two women in the company that can take that from her, one of them being Bayley. The other is Tiffany Stratton, and not because she’s good enough, but because she has the Money in the Bank briefcase and will cash it in when she gets tired of being berated and talked down by Jax.
Stratton interjects, questioning Bayley’s comments of her not being good enough and stating that she doesn’t need the briefcase to beat Nia. An offended Jax goes “Excuse me?”, flustering Stratton into recomposing herself and saying that instead of trying to break up their partnership, she should bow down to her queen. Bayley retorts and says that even if she doesn’t like the way Jax conducts herself, she can at least respect her and how dominant she has been, while she has zero respect for Stratton and would rather bow down to Jax than patronize a “stupid bitch”. Stratton tries to attack Bayley, but her and Jax battle it out, with the challenger hitting the champion with the Money in the Bank briefcase. Stratton gets up to hold the briefcase, confusing Jax as Naomi’s music hits.
Chelsea Green, still covered in sewage, is walking backstage with Piper Niven, who is trying to talk to her but is literally put off the smell of the sewage. Pretty Deadly, Austin Theory, Grayson Waller, Angel, and Berto also reacted negatively to the smell and walked off when encountering her.
Back in the ring, the match between Naomi and Tiffany Stratton would start with the two locking up. They trade blows for most of the contest, countering each other’s moves, with the match ending only as The Girl with the Glow caught the Buff Barbie hitting a cartwheel, which was reversed into a pinning attempt by Stratton, but would be countered by a roll up from Naomi for the victory.
After the match, Nia Jax confronted Stratton and told her that if she didn’t know any better, she would have thought Stratton was teasing her on a cash-in, with Jax stating that maybe she should focus on Liv Morgan‘s Women’s World Championship match tomorrow night, as it would be a cash-in she would actually survive, or tell her that she will never betray her queen. A nervous Tiffany says she would never.
Bad Blood takes place from Atlanta, Georgia’s State Farm Arena tomorrow night on Saturday, October 5th. Our women’s matches are as follows:
Naomi has been added to hosting duties at Bad Blood this Saturday. The show has a special start time at 6 PM ET.
She will join the already confirmed hosts, the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill. The Big 3!
Naomi was victorious on the Oct. 4 episode of SmackDown in a win over Tiffany Stratton.
The last two matches for the first WWE Women’s Speed Champion tournament have been taped and we have a winner!
Candice LeRae has become the inaugural WWE Women’s Speed Champion. She defeated Kairi Sane in the Semi Finals and then IYO SKY in the finals.
Tonight’s SmackDown is the last stop before Bad Blood takes place tomorrow. Nia Jax will be defending her WWE Women’s Title against Bayley, but what will be the final build tonight.
Also:
Dawn Marie was one of the most popular acts during her time in WWE right along with Torrie Wilson. One thing she never got that other’s such as Wilson and Nidia received during that time was a championship opportunity.
While speaking with Ring the Belle, Dawn Marie was asked where her title opportunity was and if that was an aspiration of hers, and she seemed to be quite okay with never getting one. She referred to herself as just a heel and there to help get over other talent, and she was okay with that.
“No. I’m a heel. I’m a hand. My job there was to escalate others. I was fine with that, I loved it. I didn’t need the belt, it’s a lot of extra weight to carry around.”
She also goes over her infamous storyline with Torrie Wilson and her father, flashing the crowd, and her what she is currently doing – being a nurse.
Mercedes Moné is giving credit to The Queen, Charlotte Flair, as her strongest competition. Mone has branched herself out of WWE and has taken on talent in Japan and now in AEW.
While speaking in her newsletter, “Mone Mag”, the TBS Champion had the following to say about Mrs. Flair:
“Without a doubt, Charlotte takes the top spot. This woman doesn’t even know her own strength. She’s a super athlete, and I honestly think she’s still discovering just how physically powerful she is. Charlotte is one of those wrestlers who can throw you around the ring without you even needing to assist. Her strength is mind-blowing, and combined with her dedication to the gym, she’s a force to be reckoned with.”
Outside of Flair, Moné went on to list two additional women she feels are powerful in the ring. First, Nia Jax.
“Like Charlotte, Nia doesn’t fully grasp just how strong she is. There’s no stopping her. If she wants to throw me across the ring, she absolutely can. Nia is a beast of nature, and once she gets going, there’s no blocking her.”
Lastly, she mentions Bianca Belair.
“Bianca is solid, like a statue made of stone. It’s incredibly hard to move her. And her strength is undeniable. She’s a natural athlete with a build that makes her incredibly tough to budge. Biance’s strength, combined with her agility, makes her one of the fiercest competitors in the ring today.”
AEW has done tapings for both the upcoming Rampage (Oct. 4) and Collision (Oct. 5) episodes. Below you will find the spoilers for both.
Rampage – Oct. 4
Collision – Oct. 5
Australian wrestler Jessica Troy discusses fellow Australian talent Delta in a recent interview.
WWE and NXT fans are hyped up to see the debut of Delta for the NXT brand. A first vignette aired for Delta this past Tuesday and all signs point to her debut at Halloween Havoc later this month. Troy, who has worked many times with Delta spoke about her.
While speaking with WrestleZone:
“I would describe her as the coolest person you’ve ever seen. Just think of a cool person, and that’s what she is. She’s jacked. She has this sick makeup and amazing gear, and she just has that presence when she gets out into the ring. She kind of understands who she is, and you can tell because she seems so comfortable within her skin when she’s in the ring and that really portrays through her wrestling as well. She just exudes confidence.” (Fightful)
Troy is currently the PWA Heavyweight Champion, the first and only woman to hold this title. She will be defending it against Charli Evans on Oct. 12.
As for Delta, she is poised to become the next powerhouse of NXT and follows recent debuts of Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer.
As TNA was not able to have a new episode on Oct. 3 due to Hurricane Helene cancelling its tapings, the promotion was able to do its tapings today instead. From this, we know we will see a Six Knockout Tag Team match next week on Oct. 10.
We will have NXT’s Sol Ruca returning to TNA to team up with Masha Slamovich and Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace taking on Tasha Steelz, Rosemary, and NXT’s Wendy Choo.
NXT’s Brinley Reece was also in action during the TNA tapings.
Following a report by TMZ, former WWE Superstar Nikki Garcia has been granted a restraining order, as of Monday, against Artem Chigvintsev. She has submitted a sworn declaration to the court saying in detail how Chigvintsev allegedly brutalized her. Garcia has previously filed for divorce as well against Chigvintsev.
According to the TMZ report –
The judge prohibited Artem from contacting or coming within 100 yards of her, their son, their home, etc. The only exception is for visitation or exchange of the child per court-ordered visits.
Nikki had asked the judge if she could leave the country with their son, but the judge denied that request until a full hearing is held October 21. She wants to go to London to film a project.
We’re told Artem has not been living at the family home since August 29, after a domestic dispute, but the judge said he will not grant a “move-out order” until the hearing.
Garcia’s representatives provided TMZ with the following –
“Due to the incident that led to Artem’s arrest on August 29, 2024, Nikki has decided to file for a temporary Domestic Violence Restraining Order to protect herself and her son. Although Nikki requested that the Napa District Attorney not file charges against Artem as she did not want him to go to jail, he must still be held accountable for his actions, and Nikki and her son must be protected. Nikki’s number one priority has always been the wellbeing of her son. She is thankful for all of the love and support she has received and continues to ask for privacy for her and her family during this difficult time.”
In Garcia’s petition for the restraining order, she recounts the domestic violence situation –
She says since Artem was cut from “Dancing with the Stars,” he grew “increasingly angry, snapping at me, and yelling.” She said they had discussions about his need to control his anger, adding on the morning of the incident, Artem went off on Nikki over how their 4-year-old son’s English muffin should be toasted, screaming that she made their son a “picky eater.”
Nikki says she was so overwhelmed by Artem yelling at her, she threw Matteo’s toddler-sized 7 shoes toward Artem. She says the shoes hit his leg, but were so light they couldn’t have hurt him.
She says Artem grabbed Matteo and ran with him upstairs, as the boy screamed, “Mommy! Mommy!”
She says as she tried to get in the room, Artem opened the door and tackled her to the ground outside Matteo’s room. She says he grabbed her arms and held her on the ground for what felt like 30 seconds.
The police came and Matteo told them, “Daddy hurt my hand.”
Garcia also alleges a previous violent incident from 2023 took place as well.
She also alleges Artem was physically violent on one prior occasion. She says in mid-2023, he “violently grabbed me around my waist” to keep her away from Matteo. She also claims there were numerous instances of verbal abuse. She says she doesn’t want her son to grow up in a tumultuous environment as she did. Nikki wants Artem to get the help he needs with therapy and anger management — and for her and Matteo to have enough space away from him until he has bettered himself.
AEW Dynamite celebrates its 5th Anniversary tonight and the women of AEW mean business on this celebratory night.
The TBS and NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, Mercedes Moné, along with her muscle, Kamille, join the festivities. Although Moné has only been a part of AEW for a short while, she runs a video package of “AEW’s Best Moments” featuring “The CEO.” This catches the attention of one MVP, who gives her his card as he knows a thing or two about business.
An AEW Original and Pittsburgh’s own, “The Doctor” Britt Baker, is set to make her return against “The Professor” Serena Deeb. The two go to graps and in the crowd is the AEW Women’s World Champion, Mariah May, to scout this match.
Baker looks to be in control, but Deeb and her years of experience manage to pull through Baker’s offense. “The DMD” pulls out her patented glove, but Deeb puts a stop to that target her knee with a Dragon Screw in the corner. Deeb tries to hit a Deebtox, but Baker counters with an Air Raid Crash to send them both to the canvas. The two meet on the top rope, and Baker manages to hit an Avalanche Air Raid Crash. Baker manages to lock in the Lockjaw and tap out Deeb for the win.
Post-match, Deeb has some unfinished business and tries to take out Baker’s knee for good. Queen Aminata, who has had problems with Deeb in the past, makes the save for “The DMD” and things are far from over between the two.
Backstage, Renee Paquette is interviewing May whom we saw in the crowd. Paquette asks about the situation with Mina Shirakawa and Toni Storm teaming up in Stardom while dealing with Yuka Sakazaki and Willow Nightingale here in AEW. May calls Nightingale a failure for losing two titles this year, and now vying for her title. But, she shortly gets interrupted by Nightingale herself and a catfight ensues.
What did you think about AEW Dynamite’s 5th Anniversary Show? What business does MVP want with Moné? Will Deeb get the best of Queen Aminata? And can Nightingale prevail over the evil Mariah May? Let us know in the comments below!
