The go-home show edition of RAW gave us a tonne of action and the continuation of multiple storylines involving multiple women. There were three matches in all, the first saw Mickie James take on Natalya. The second was The Golden Role Models vs. Asuka and Shayna Baszler. And the third had Peyton Royce face off against Ruby Riott. Nia Jax made her presence known much to the chagrin of Baszler and her fellow four horsewomen of UFC in the RAW Underground segment and Bianca Belair and Zelina Vega crossed paths once again.
Let’s get to the action.
The first match of the night had Mickie James making her return to in-ring competition against Natalya. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the return we all hoped for and Natalya won via the match via count-out. To make matters worse the match was interrupted by a Seth Rollins and Samoa Joe promo that took all of the attention away from the match. This was not the return a legend like James (and Natalya for that matter) deserves, but to remain positive, at least it continues the feud.
You can read more about the match here.
The next match of the night was the mouthwatering affair of The Golden Role Models vs. Asuka and Shayna Baszler.
Before the match, Bayley and Banks cut a promo stating that they will both defeat Asuka at SummerSlam. Baszler would add that no matter what happens, she is next in line for a title shot.
The match had hardly got started when Nia Jax distracted Baszler and then took her out with a sheet of plexiglass. Baszler and Jax would leave ringside throwing hands leaving Asuka alone to face both of her SummerSlam opponents.
Asuka would fair well in the 2-on-1 setting but was overcome by the numbers advantage the Golden Role Models possessed.
Baszler would return to save Asuka from the Bank Statement and then claim victory of her team by tapping out Bayley with the Kirifuda Clutch.
This was another excellent outing for all involved. All competitors, especially Banks, Bayley and Asuka are firing on all cylinders. Baszler seems to be rejuvenated with a purpose and focus that makes her even more dangerous. There are now three potential storylines for Baszler going forward. A feud with Nia Jax, challenging either Asuka or Banks for the title and a possible tag-team Asuka. All of these possibilities sound great.
The next match we saw was the continuation of the Riott Squad and the IIconics feud. Ruby Riott took on Peyton Royce in a rematch from a few weeks ago when Billie Kay said she couldn’t compete because of a shoulder injury.
This was another quick match between the two and featured some nice sequences and good action. Royce would pick up the win after shoving Riott into Liv Morgan and hitting her beautiful spinning brainbuster finisher.
Although it is nice to see so many feuds and storylines within the women’s division this feud has run its course. It would be nice to see these the two teams move on and progress further up the card.
We then headed to RAW Underground were we saw Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke make their debuts. Shafir made quick work her unnamed opponent, making her tap with an armbar. Shafir’s celebrations were cut short by Nia Jax who took her out with a sneak attack. Duke attempted to enter the ring but ate a kick to the face for her efforts. Baszler then attempted to throw down with Jax much to the excitement of Shane McMahon but she left the ring before any action took place.
This was a good use of all four and adds further intrigue into RAW Underground, Baszler vs. Jax and the badass trio of Baszler, Duke and Shafir.
To finish off an action-packed night Bianca Belair and Zeina Vega got physical during the Montez Ford vs. Andrade match. Vega would attempt a cross body from the ring apron only to suffer a huge slam from the ever-impressive Belair.
Before the match it was revealed that Vega was the one who poisoned Ford two weeks ago, so expect to see Belair vs. Vega soon.
That wraps it up so lets get to the winners and losers of last night’s show.
Winners: Asuka, Bayley and Sasha Banks
Once again all three took the show by storm and was the best thing on the show. That shouldn’t come as surprise as this three-way feud has been one of the best things on all WWE programming. The build-up to the double championship matches has given us brilliant promos, excellent matches and been very entertaining overall. It is going to be very interesting to see what happens at SummerSlam but one thing is for sure we’re going to get two great matches.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
The Queen of Spades has very strong since her hiatus from RAW. She has inserted herself into the title picture, made RAW Underground interesting and brought in her squad all while feuding with Nia Jax.
Her style, technique and agression brings legitimacy to the women’s division and a potential feud with Asuka for the RAW Women’s Championship will be excellent. So fingers crossed it happens.
Loser: Mickie James
As stated above for James to return after over a year with no ring entrance, the match interrupted by another angle, and a count-out is just weak. Hopefully, it will lead to something and we get some sort of decent tag team feud out of it.
Final Thoughts
That was one jam-packed show. It is great to see so many wrestlers in the women’s division being utilized. But we need to see some storyline progression and character development from the undercard. Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and the IIconics for example need something of note to happen or with stakes for their feud to mean anything. Looking on the bright side, at least they are having matches on television and not singing kareoke.
This was a good, albeit long show, that offered up some great action, interesting events, and storyline progression in the title scene beyond SummerSlam.
What did you make of the show? Let us know in the comments below. As always stay tuned to Diva Dirt for all of your WWE news, reviews, and updates.
