The prior few weeks leading up to RAW have been lackluster at best building up to the Elimination Chamber match this coming Sunday. Although last week’s contract signing helped build some momentum, there were zero women’s matches on that episode of RAW. This week we received two matches.
The first match was finally what many have been waiting for since Ruby Riott returned. Riott took on Liv Morgan with the special guest referee – Sarah Logan.
The match was short, but what it did deliver was great storyline progression. As all three former members of the Riott Squad were in the ring together, this couldn’t have been done better.
Logan seemed to be pretty down the middle during her officiating. This was until Riott got on her about her slow counts. Morgan took advantage of Logan and Riott’s argumentative nature and went for a quick pin. Logan would calculate a fast count so that Morgan got the three count and the win.
After the match, Logan would take out Riott and then prove that the Riott Squad is in fact over by attacking Morgan. All three women will be half of the competitors in the upcoming six-woman Elimination Chamber match.
The advertised match of the night was Kairi Sane taking on Shayna Baszler in Baszler’s debut match on RAW. Originally Asuka was supposed to challenge Baszler but she was removed from the match due to a “sprained wrist.” Sane was big on offense at the beginning of the bout. That shortly wavered and Baszler would dominate the majority afterward.
RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch made her way out midway through this match. She made her way over to the commentary table and provided just enough distraction for Baszler to take her eye off of Sane. Sane garnered a little big more offense in but it was no match for the Queen of Spades. She would win her debut match by submitting Sane in the Kirifuda Clutch.
After the bell rang, Lynch would continue to speak on commentary while yelling at her potential opponent for WrestleMania. It would literally be the shock of the century if any other woman besides Baszler won the chamber match on Sunday.
Lastly, Beth Phoenix made her way out to the ring as the main event segment. She was there to give an update on her husband, Edge’s condition. Two months ago, Randy Orton attacked his former tag team partner and close friend and he hasn’t been seen since.
Ever since Orton attacked Edge everyone has been wondering why? Why did he take out his close friend who just announced he can get back in the ring again after nine years? In Orton’s
Phoenix wouldn’t take this lightly as she slapped him across the face. That was the beginning of the end. A quick kick to the Viper‘s midsection was enough for him as he delivers an RKO to the former Divas Champion. The show ended with Phoenix laying in the ring with multiple members of the male locker room, referees, and her best friend Natalya by her side.
Let’s get to the Winners & Losers of the week.
WINNER: Sarah Logan
Finally! Sarah winds up on the winners list and she even received some crowd support as well. She did an excellent job playing her role in all of this. Up until tonight, they were only casually mentioning the break down of the once strong Riott Squad. Tonight, it broke down completely and Logan didn’t pick either side.
She did the fast count so that Morgan would win, but in the end, she would take Morgan out as well. I personally am excited to see them continue to breakdown moving forward and their interaction in the chamber.
WINNER: Beth Phoenix
It may be odd to put Beth on the winner list because of how the show ended. She definitely wasn’t feeling like a winner, however, her acting was top notch. The entire segment made me feel the anger and sadness that Beth was portraying. That is what makes a great storyline come together.
I really do hope that we get the Divas of Doom vs. The Kabuki Warriors at WrestleMania because I want to see more of Beth on my television. It will be interesting to see if she will be at NXT or if they will continue to sell this.
LOSER: Kairi Sane
Kairi has to end up on the losing side. Although they did allow her to get a little offense in at times, she was fed to Shayna. She also tapped out to the Kirifuda Clutch instantly also which we know that from their battles in NXT that she could have hung on a little longer. Hopefully, after Elimination Chamber we can focus on the tag team titles and stop subbing in Kairi just to put over others who don’t even need the push.
What did you think of this week’s RAW? Who were your Winners & Losers? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
