As we get closer to live fans back in the seats for RAW, we take to the Thunderdome for a six-woman tag team match set for tonight’s show. July 12 will be the last show in the Thunderdome with fans returning for SmackDown on July 16 and moving forward. Tonight, RAW Women’s Champion will team … Read more
It was advertised last night during SmackDown that there will be a six-woman tag team match on this Monday’s RAW. The competitors will encompass bot the RAW Women’s Champion as well as the Women’s Tag Team Champions. Rhea Ripley will team up with Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke as they take on Charlotte Flair, Tamina, … Read more
With Hell in a Cell behind us, the pay-per-view schedule continues right into the Money in the Bank event. Taking place on July 18, with fans in attendance, this event will see eight women get a chance to climb the ladder, grab the briefcase, and get a guaranteed shot at a championship. The four women … Read more
Hell in a Cell is over and Rhea Ripley is still the RAW Women’s Champion. She cost herself a disqualification which allowed Charlotte Flair to win the match, but not walk out as champion. It appears that their rivalry is far from over as it is expected to carry until at least the next pay-per-view. … Read more
Is funk still on a roll? If you are Ariane Andrew then you believe it is! Andrew, the former WWE Diva named Cameron, posted to her Twitter account after Naomi lost to Piper Niven this week on RAW. Naomi and Andrew are former tag team partners during the latter’s run with WWE. The duo was … Read more
On tonight’s RAW, it was the last stop before heading into this weekend’s Hell in a Cell event for the red brand. It left RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley irate after having an all-out brawl with Charlotte Flair. The two will collide this Sunday with the title on the line but they couldn’t wait to … Read more
Heading into tonight’s RAW, WWE fans were expecting a match between the returning Eva Marie and Naomi. What we ended up getting was the RAW debut of NXT UK talent Piper Niven. Niven not only accompanied the returning Eva Marie but took her place in the match. As the two made their way down the … Read more
The Eva-Lution happens tonight as Eva Marie officially makes her return to WWE. For over a month now vignettes have been airing in regards to Eva’s return to the company. There have been many rumors swirling in regards to her return. Will she be just a manager? Will she be back in the ring? Will … Read more
This week’s RAW ended with Shayna Baszler screaming in the dark.
Nia Jax warned Baszler prior to entering Alexa’s Playground that she had never seen Alexa Bliss this way before. That wasn’t enough to stop Baszler as she was convinced that Bliss was nothing to worry about and that Lilly is just a “stupid doll.”
The main event of the show witnessed Baszler make her way to the ring where Bliss and Lilly were waiting for her. It was Baszler’s idea from last week to have a chat with Bliss before anything got out of hand to deal with the situation. For week’s Bliss/Lilly have been targeting Baszler/Jax/Reginald and The Queen of Spades blames these occurrences for the reason why she and Jax are no longer tag team champions.
It would be Bliss who started the physical altercation after Baszler continued to mock Lilly. Bliss let her know that all she had to do was to apologize to Lilly, but Baszler was dead set on the idea that Lilly was nothing more than a stupid doll. After the confrontation got physical, Baszler took it one step further (pun intended) and stepped on Lilly.
This unleashed the anger in Lilly and the pyro went off in the arena which sent Baszler scurrying to the backstage area. Something felt different as there was no one backstage and the former Women’s Tag Team Champion was all alone. She kept trying to tell herself that Lilly was just a doll and nothing was happening but panic started setting in as she tried to escape the building as random stage equipment started falling down around her.
Baszler found herself in a room where she had hoped she was safe. However, she came to a mirror which had Lilly in the reflection. When she turned around, Lilly wasn’t there. She tried to compose herself — but once again looking at the mirror the doll reappeared. Baszler then broke the mirror, everything went black, and Baszler was left screaming as RAW went off the air.
Elsewhere on RAW, Nikki Cross picked up her third win in a row by pinning the RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley in tag team action. Unlike her prior two wins where she had to just avoid being defeated in two-minutes in Beat the Clock challenges, this win came with an actual pinfall.
Earlier in the night, Charlotte Flair wanted her loss to Cross last week to be wiped from her record. WWE Authorities Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville wouldn’t budge on the matter. They did decide that Flair should team with Ripley against Cross and an opponent of her choosing. She chose Asuka.
The match was given plenty of time and highlighted the obvious descension between Flair and Ripley. That would ultimately be their demise as Flair couldn’t help herself by taking out her own partner with Natural Selection. Flair then sat by while watching Cross pin the RAW Women’s Champion.
After the match, Cross and Asuka celebrated their win by dancing on the commentary table. The celebration continued backstage in a WWE Network Exclusive. Both women were extremely fired up from their win.
What did you think of this week’s RAW? Sound off in the comment section below.
Eva Marie will finally make her return to WWE television for the first time in nearly four years on next week’s RAW.
It has been over a month since vignettes started to air for the former “All Red Everything” to make her return. These videos have explained her previous time with the company, who she has become since leaving, and what we may see from her upon her return. All of this preparing the fans for Eva-lution.
Since her very first vignette was aired, the speculations on what a return for Eva Marie may look like started to swirl. The most recent rumors have her being paired with a potential call up for RAW. A couple names that have been on the list to be the “muscle” for her are NXT’s Mercedes Martinez or NXT UK’s Piper Niven.
There has also been some discussion on the role she will be playing upon her return. Whether she will just be a manager or jump right back into the ring. She has been training at the WWE Performance Center since her signing and one of her latest vignettes shows her back in the ring.
Regardless of how Eva will be presented back to the WWE Universe, she will arrive next week.
On tonight’s RAW, Shayna Baszler is going to stop by Alexa’s Playground after Baszler’s interaction with Alexa Bliss and Lilly last week. Baszler lost to Reginald last week and she followed up that loss by attacking him in Alexa’s Playground. Bliss wasn’t a big fan of Baszler showing up when she wasn’t invited. Nikki Cross … Read more
RAW kicked off this week with a Miz TV in which RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley along with Charlotte Flair were the guests. These two women have a match for the championship at the next pay-per-view at Hell in a Cell. One woman had something to say about the championship, thus interrupting Miz TV to say her peace. That woman is Nikki Cross.
Cross defeated RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley last week by avoiding a pin or submission during a two-minute beat the clock challenge. Because she avoided defeat in that match against the champion, she believe she deserves a title opportunity. Cross then asked Flair if she defeats her in two-minutes as well – will that make her a contender to face whoever is champion after Hell in a Cell?
This then created another beat the clock challenge, this time against Flair with the same time limit of two-minutes. Flair declared she could get the job done in one minute. Regardless, Cross spent half the time avoiding Flair on the outside of the ring. As a result, Flair was not able to put away Cross in the two-minute time frame. Cross wins for the second week in a row.
Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke defeated Naomi and Lana
Baszler had the Kirifuda Clutch locked in and was moments away from having Reginald tap. As she backed herself towards the corner of the ring, the fire/pyro went off at the turnbuckle which distracted her. Reginald then rolled thru on Baszler to pin her for the win. Nia Jax celebrated with Reginald backstage.
Reginald was then invited to Alexa’s Playground for later on in the night.
The last women’s match involved two teams who would like an opportunity at the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. With the champions on commentary, Tamina & Natalya looked on as Naomi & Lana faced Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke. Natalya spoke a lot about Lana and how she helped train her. The match came down Brooke winning it for her team as she pins Lana.
Lastly on Alexa’s Playground, Alexa Bliss and Lilly were excited to speak with Reginald. Lilly asked Reginald how it was working with Cirque du Soleil but he wasn’t able to answer due to Baszler attacking him from behind. After taking him out, Bliss let Baszler know she wasn’t invited because Lilly doesn’t like her. Baszler says that next week they need to have a little chat and then let Lilly know that she is just a stupid doll.
On tonight’s RAW, the most recent vignette aired for Eva Marie with another “coming soon” for her return to WWE. Now with several teaser videos that have aired since her official return announcement, the most recent one shows herself back in the ring. And with that she proclaims, “I’m back to finish what I started.” … Read more
For this week’s RAW there is one match and one segment advertised. The first is stemming from last week’s main event where Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax were not able to regain the Women’s Tag Team Championships. This was thanks to Reginald who involved himself at the wrong time again. Baszler will be facing Reginald … Read more
On this Monday’s RAW, RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley along with Charlotte Flair will be the guests on Miz TV. The Miz hasn’t been seen since he was fighting off zombies at WrestleMania Backlash a few weeks ago. Also at that event, Ripley retained her title against both Flair and Asuka in a Triple Threat … Read more
Nikki Cross was in action this week on RAW for the first time since February. This match came about when Ripley and Charlotte Flair met backstage earlier in the day. Ripley wished Flair luck in her match against Asuka later on while Flair stated that Ripley is just jealous of her and she is the … Read more
On this week’s RAW we will see not only a rematch for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles but the same match we have already seen 30 times. Tamina & Natalya will put their titles on the line against former champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler. Tamina & Natalya have already defeated Jax & Baszler … Read more
Prior to any matches taking place, Naomi & Lana along with Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke were arguing backstage with WWE Authority Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville on who would be next to get a title shot. Now that we have new champions, the teams are wanting another go.
Naomi mentions how every time her and Lana would have a match they would always get interrupted in some capacity. Mandy and Dana stated that they were on the winning team last week against the former tag team champions.
Deville then asks the ladies to give her and Pearce a moment with Flair as they have something to discuss. No surprise, Flair stated that she wasn’t the one to take the pin during last night’s Triple Threat match, so she wants Rhea Ripley one-on-one for the RAW Women’s Championship. Deville says that she understands where she is coming from (as always) but says she will have to defeat Asuka later in the night in order to get another title shot.
Rhea Ripley says what every single fan has been saying for a while now….that she is here and she wants to take on some NEW competitors. Yes Rhea! Fresh matches…we WANT to see it.
As for the match between Asuka and Flair, it ends up much like their match did a few weeks ago. Asuka gets the pin, which was very much needed for her, from some assistance on a distraction by Ripley. So does this mean that Flair might not be facing Ripley again, or….?
If that is the case, who would Flair go for next? Could we maybe see Sonya making a return to the ring after perhaps she doesn’t feed into Flair wanting another title match? I may just be getting my hopes up to see some new matches.
As for the Women’s Tag Team Title rematch, let’s take a trip to Alexa’s Playground first. She invited the new champs, Tamina & Natalya to visit. Tamina definitely wasn’t having it and wanted out every second she was there.
They start off by talking about their tag team win. Nattie says that it was no easy task beating two of the toughest women in the division but it was something they will cherish and it was also Tamina’s first title win.
Bliss responds, “super duper, that is nice” as she holds Lilly up. Tamina, who had been staring around the playground, asks if they can leave now. Bliss then says that she hasn’t even asked the “tough questions yet.” She says Lilly wants to know what their favorite colors are. Nattie of course says pink but Tamina says black and blue which is what Alexa’s face will look like if she tries anything weird.
Bliss says that wasn’t very nice but Lilly likes Tamina. She really liked it when Tamina beat up Reginald and wanted to know if that was fun. Tamina says it was and if he tries to interfere in the rematch then she will have no problem “swatting” him again. Bliss then goes on to say what Lilly likes in regards to dead bugs as Tamina and Nattie quietly exit.
Once Bliss realizes they are gone she says she will be watching the tag team match. And that she did.
Bliss came out with Lilly in hand on the stage during the match just as Reginald was creeping up the steel steps to the ring. Tamina had Baszler up on her shoulders, but Baszler countered and was trying to lock in the Kirifuda Clutch. As Reginald was on the steel steps the ring post pyro went off and burst into flames causing him to be launched back to the barricade. Jax went to go check on him as he kept his eyes covered.
Tamina then took advantage and held up Baszler for Nattie to execute a clothesline to get the pin and retain their titles.
This keeps me hopeful also that we may end up seeing the end of Baszler & Jax vs Tamia & Nattie. With their loss they should be put at the back of the line.
As for Bliss and what’s to come, it seems as though she is definitely targeting Baszler and Jax. She did some voodoo magic on Baszler’s knee last week and then went after Reginald this week.
We did get another new promo for Eva Marie. It was similar to last week’s where it definitely seems like she will first step into perhaps a managerial or mentor role. She talks about being in film and compares herself to a heroine just like Angelina Jolie.
Lastly, there was a Nikki Cross sighting. She was a lumberjill during the lumberjack match between Damian Priest and John Morrison. She was the only woman out there and was front and center. Unfortunately they didn’t do much with her, but it was good to at least see her out there.
Let’s get into the Winners & Losers of this week’s RAW:
WINNER: Asuka
A great bounced back and much needed win for Asuka. It was almost certain that Asuka was going to take the fall at WrestleMania Backlash, and she did just that. Although it was a great Triple Threat, Asuka tends to take the fall in type of matches. This win against Charlotte tonight though still gave her that fight that she needs to not be brushed aside. Not sure where this is all going next, but her getting that win kept her in a good light.
WINNERS: Tamina & Nattie
First successful title defense – check! Not sure about anybody else, but I was holding my breath thinking that they were going to take the titles off of them this quick. It’s WWE, so I wouldn’t have been surprised. I thought the interaction with Alexa Bliss was great also….and I am looking forward to them hopefully facing The Riott Squad on SmackDown.
Side note: I am all for the tag team champions being used on both brands – they are supposed to be. However, the fact they have to be used on both brands every week shows how badly we need some new faces on both brands.
LOSERS: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
It seems to be obvious that they are probably Alexa’s target. If that’s the case I am all for them moving on and away from the title. However, them losing should put them at the back of the line.
LOSER: Charlotte Flair
Much like Nia & Shayna, Charlotte losing should put her in the back of the line. But this is Charlotte Flair, so I won’t count my chickens until I see what happens the next couple of week’s. I would really love for her and Sonya to feud next. Maybe that’s just me really wanting Sonya back in the ring, but I honestly think they could have some great one-on-one matches together.
What did you think of this week’s RAW? Who were your Winners & Losers? Discuss in the comment section below!
There is some good potential for tonight’s RAW. It is the fallout from WrestleMania Backlash that took place on Sunday and Rhea Ripley is still the RAW Women’s Champion. Ripley, who defeated Asuka at WrestleMania was able to pin The Empress of Tomorrow once again in a Triple Threat match that also involved Charlotte Flair. … Read more
Alexa Bliss and her friend Lilly have been thick as thieves since WrestleMania. At WrestleMania, Bliss caused The Fiend to lose after distracting him from his match against Randy Orton and since then has gone off on her own. From this, Lilly emerged. For the past couple of week’s Bliss has mentioned that Lilly was … Read more
Tonight’s RAW is the last show for the red brand before WrestleMania Backlash this coming Sunday. At that event, there will be a Triple Threat Match for the RAW Women’s Title. The champion, Rhea Ripley, will defend against Asuka and Charlotte Flair. Ripley defeated Asuka in a one-on-one match at WrestleMania last month. Tonight, Asuka … Read more
WWE has announced a six-woman tag team match for this Monday’s RAW. Charlotte Flair will team up with the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler as they face Asuka, Dana Brooke, and Mandy Rose. WrestleMania Backlash is a week from today and Asuka and Flair will be involved in a Triple … Read more
Naomi & Lana were unsuccessful in their title shot against WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax on last night’s RAW. While Naomi was preoccupied with Jax on the outside, Lana had Baszler pinned for well over a three-count. The issue was the official for the match was distracted by Reginald on … Read more
She’s BACKKKKKK! Eva Marie is back where she started and that’s WWE. On tonight’s RAW, a promo aired for Eva Marie’s return to the company and says she is coming soon. For a number of months now there have been many rumors and speculations that the former “All Red Everything” was set to make a … Read more
Tonight’s RAW has a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match scheduled as the champs Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler defend against Naomi & Lana. WrestleMania Backlash is quickly approaching and just announced is RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley taking on Asuka in a WrestleMania rematch. Ripley has been seeing Charlotte Flair suspended and reinstated in … Read more
WWE has officially announced that WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax will be defending their titles against the team of Naomi & Lana. The match will take place on this Monday’s RAW.
Baszler & Jax has had rivalries with both Naomi & Lana and the team of Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke on the red brand while battling Natalya & Tamina on SmackDown. Last week’s RAW saw a six-woman tag match which had Baszler & Jax along with RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley defeating Naomi, Lana, and Asuka.
Naomi & Lana do have a tag team win over the champions from the April 19 episode of RAW and Naomi had a singles victory over Baszler in March. Ravishing Glow had a shot at the belts on the March 8 episode of RAW but was unable to walk away with the gold.
Check back in with Diva Dirt every Monday for a RAW Discussion Post and all your news on the women of WWE.
