There was a lot of animosity towards the Golden Role Models as they now hold all the gold. The woman who has the most anger would be that of Asuka who lost the RAW Women’s Championship to Sasha Banks last week. This also saw the exit of Kairi Sane from the company. Asuka would say later on in the show “Kairi’s not here” and it broke my heart. Anyway, let’s keep going.
So there were two matches of the night. The first one was, wait for it – The Riott Squad vs. The IIconics. That’s right, another tearjerker of a moment that saw Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott reuniting. This all started with Riott as the special guest on Kevin Owens – The KO Show.
Owens first talked to Riott and went over how she was on such a losing slope from her return until she picked up her singles win against Peyton Royce. She has been having major problems with The IIconics lately and she finally came out on top.
KO then announced a special guest as he invited Liv Morgan out to the ring. Riott has been trying to contact Morgan for weeks with no such luck. She came out to give Riott a chance to speak what was on her mind. In a tearful segment, she went over their time together in the Riott Squad along with Sarah Logan and how she understands when she came back she went about everything the wrong way. She was providing her apology in hopes to win back some trust.
She saw that Morgan had moved on and was doing well on her own and she didn’t come back to things quite the same as they were when she was out with her injury. The IIconics music hits and the duo comes out.
Of course they try to rattle both Morgan and Riott and challenge them to a match. KO then asks if The IIconics mics could be cut (during this segment the mics were going in and out) and this prompted both Royce and Billie Kay to slap KO. He asked for some back up, and Riott and Morgan attacked them. This developed into a match between the two teams.
The match culminated to a win for the reunion of The Riott Squad as Morgan picked up the pin on Kay. Then The IIconics went on the attack as they both attacked her. Riott then saved her from the beating proving that them working together is better than apart. After Riott takes out Royce in the corner, she delivers a kick to the face of Kay.
Morgan and Riott would then team up to drop Kay to the mat by kicking her legs out from under her. They would leave the ring together in celebration.
Nia Jax had a segment as a follow up from her attacking WWE official Pat Buck last week. In her match against Shayna Baszler that ended in a double coun-out, Jax attacked Buck and was “fined” an undisclosed amount. This week she was in the ring to provide an apology to him.
She stated she would apologize to him, only after they have a match against each other. Jax wanted him to have a shot at a match as she felt that his in-ring career failed. He suggested that they take this to the back and talk about it in private as he wasn’t getting the apology he expected.
Jax instead wanted him to speak to her right then and there. He would then take to the mic and let everyone know that Jax is now suspended indefinitely. This of course infuriated her so she then attacked him again before leaving the ring and storming to the back.
Earlier in the night backstage during an interview, Bayley and Sasha Banks were highlighting last week’s win by Banks. This led to Shayna Baszler stepping in and knocking down Banks setting up for their match later on in the night.
This provided a unique and refreshing match as I believe this was the first singles match between these two competitors (at least that I can think of). The match showcased both women pretty well. It definitely was opposite of the domination that Baszler normally shows to her opponents. The match ended in a no contest as Asuka made her way down to the ring and attacked Bayley at ringside. The official called for the bell.
This caused both Banks and Bayley to retreat as Asuka gets interviewed about how she is feeling after last week’s loss and the exit of Kairi Sane. She says that Kairi is fine but she is no longer here, but she is. She is determined and ready to get back the RAW Women’s Championship and challenges Banks for a rematch at SummerSlam.
Baszler is still in the ring and she says she is rooting for Asuka. Because once Asuka beats Banks she wants to dethrone Asuka. Bayley and Banks come back out on the stage. Banks says that Asuka can have her rematch only if she defeats a former NXT Women’s Champion and a member of the Four Horsewomen. Swerving thinking that she is referring to Baszler, Banks says that she has to defeat Bayley next week.
Lastly, there was a brawl that was held back in the backstage area between Bianca Belair and Zelina Vega. In a match that involved Belair’s husband Montez Ford vs. Andrade, Ford collapsed from being “poisoned.” This heated Belair who feels that Vega and her stable had something to do with it. She was ready to go to blows with Vega, but both women were held back.
Let’s get into the Winners & Losers of the week!
WINNER: The Riott Squad 2.0
In a much-needed way, Liv and Ruby’s reuniting is good to see. In a land where tag teams are minimal, it is good to see one come back together – especially this one. Hopefully, now we can get a build for them to get towards those tag titles and win their first gold in the company. Ruby was really impressive with her promo, it hit me right in the feels.
WINNER: Shayna Baszler
I enjoyed the match between her and Sasha. Shayna gets a lot of flack, but I can tell how hard of a worker she is even if it is an unpopular opinion. I also like how she is taking a step back and saying she wants Asuka over Sasha as well.
LOSER: Nia Jax
I don’t get what is going on. What is the point in her being fined and beating up a WWE official two weeks in a row? Her dominance doesn’t need to be proven. Unless for whatever reason this was a way to write her off for a bit, I don’t see the appeal. I was kind of hoping that Pat was going to turn around and become her manager, although she really doesn’t need one.
I hope they move forward with an actual feud with Bianca and Zelina. Although they have done it before and it is clear they are just doing this because they “have nothing else for Bianca” (which is ridiculous), I hope to get a few matches out of this.
What did you think of this week’s RAW? Who were your Winners & Losers? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
