Rapid Results:
- Sasha Banks defeated Sonya Deville, then got ambushed by Absolution
- WWE announced the first ever Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal
- Asuka defeated Mickie James after being interrupted by Mickie and Alexa Bliss
- Nia Jax defeated Joan King before Alexa Bliss admitted to using Nia. After Alexa had embarrassed Nia and unknowingly exposing her true intensions, Nia had a meltdown backstage.
The Rundown:
With Bayley by her side, Sasha Banks looked to take on Sonya Deville. Banks started things off by firing away with forearms and diving over Sonya for a sunset flip. Deville tried to take her down, but Sasha countered with a backslide. Sonya got out, but Sasha kept at her and hit her off her feet with a series of dropkicks. Banks tossed Sonya to ringside after clocking her jaw with a forearm.
Back from commercial and Sonya has Sasha trapped in a bodyscissors. Sasha got out, but Sonya plowed her to the canvas. She then got her into the corner and thrusted against her gut. Deville went back on Sasha and reapplied her bodyscissors hold. Sasha got to her feet and rammed Sonya in the corner and flipped her over her head.
However, once she got back up, Sonya drilled her with a kick and sliding knee. Sasha retreated to the corner and Sonya went after her. Banks was able to fight Deville off and go to the top rope. She soared through the air with a double knees and got a near fall. Mandy Rose jumped on the apron, but Bayley sprinted over and pulled her off. Sonya tried to sneak up on Sasha, but Banks got around her and locked in the Bank Statement!
The second the bell rang, Bayley left ringside, completely annoyed and uninterested with Sasha. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville entered the ring and beat down The Boss. Bayley was nowhere to be seen as Sasha was laid out.
WWE announced the first ever installment of a Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania, that will contain women from RAW, SmackDown, and NXT.
Charly Caruso stays everyone is dying to know why Asuka chose to face Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania and before she can explain, Alexa Bliss and Mickie James came out. Alexa comes out and criticizes Asuka’s english, but calls her extremely smart because Asuka wouldn’t dare to face her at WrestleMania. Mickie plays Bliss’ sidekick, continuously mocking Asuka.
Alexa says its smart strategy for Asuka to not pick her, and that she’ll be rooting her to beat Charlotte at WrestleMania. She applauds Asuka for picking the champion of the B show. Asuka responds by saying that she chose Charlotte because “in order to be the woman, you have to beat the woman”, and she wanted to face the best champion in WWE. Bliss says that Asuka means she wants to face the easier champion at WrestleMania, so she picked Charlotte. Asuka says she she’s beaten Alexa once, and she’ll do it again tonight! Alexa has an excuse and hints that she will face Nia Jax, but Nia never comes out. Suddenly, Mickie lunges across the ring and knocks her with a cheap shot.
We come back to the action and Mickie James is taking on Asuka. James is kicking Asuka in the gut in the corner. She goes for a few pins and nails Asuka in the face after she kicks out. She then keeps Asuka down with kicks. She pulled Asuka up and The Empress swung on James with quick strikes. She then ran off the ropes and hit Mickie with a hip attack and nailed kicks across her chest. Mickie dove out of the ring to escape Asuka, but she slid across the apron and kicked Mickie in the jaw. James tried to hop the barricade and escape, but Asuka caught her and threw her into the LED ring post! Asuka then went for a kick, but Mickie moved just in the nick of time and Asuka’s foot cracked against the post. She then took Asuka’s leg and slammed it into the post once more. James tried to get ahold of Asuka, but Asuka kept squirming around.
Mickie went for the Mick-DT, but Asuka reversed into the AsukaLock! However, Mickie countered into a pin. The Empress kicked out and swung her leg into Mickie’s skull. The two went back and forth until Asuka slammed Mickie’s head off her knee. Mickie jolted at Asuka’s bad knee and flattened her with a flapjack. Mickie then went to the top rope, but Asuka stopped her. James flipped over her and slammed her with a deadly sunset powerbomb. She waited for Asuka to get up and tried to hit her Mick Kick, but Asuka dodged it and trapped her in the AsukaLock! Mickie screamed for Alexa’s help, but Alexa stormed away as Mickie was forced to tap out.
Alexa approached Nia Jax backstage and asked her where the hell she was. Nia tells her to relax and said Kurt Angle told her to not go out because she has a match next. Bliss says she did this all for Nia so that she could redeem herself from the embarrassing loss to Asuka weeks ago. She says Nia let people down but she loves her and is here for her. She then asks for Nia to promise that she will be at ringside for her match against Asuka next week. Jax makes her promise and gets ready for her match next.
Joan King tried to forearm Nia Jax, but Nia caught her arm and slammed her into the corner. She then tossed her across the ring by her hair and hit her with a running elbow. She then scooped King up and smashed her onto the canvas with a Samoan drop. She picks up the win and Michael Cole announces that Alexa will have an interview with Charly Caruso next.
The camera cuts to backstage with Alexa Bliss and Mickie James talking, as they wait for Charly. Mickie says Asuka should be honored that she stepped into the ring with her tonight. She then changes the topic and says she can’t believe what Alexa said to Nia previously. Alexa acts confused and James says that she belittled Nia and called her a loser and failure who let her family down. Alexa says the truth hurts and that was her being nice, because she could have been a lot harder. Mickie asks harder than saying Nia is an outcast because she’s bigger than most girls and says she almost died when Alexa said she sees the way people look at Nia Jax in airports.
Alexa says it’s like Shrek lumbering through TSA and that Nia’s better off holding her bags. She says she uses Nia because she’s vulnerable. She reiterates that Nia will be at ringside next week. She claims Nia is in the palm of her hands because she’s a loser and desperate for friends like them. She says Nia is easily manipulated and says she’s just as dumb as she is big. Nia is flabbergasted as she looks on the titantron.
Bliss says Nia is gullible for thinking her ‘I love you’ from earlier was genuine and says Jax would be nothing without her. She claims Nia worships the ground Alexa walks on because she makes her relevant. She proposes that if Nia thinks for herself next week, they’ll beat the hell out of her. They get annoyed at Charly taking forever and she apologizes for being late. Nia starts walking to the back as Charly breaks the news that the microphone was on the entire time and everyone heard what Alexa said. Nia starts running backstage as Alexa and Mickie flee from the arena. Nia sprints where Alexa was and starts throwing stuff everywhere. She rips suitcases open and screams from the top of her lungs. She cries as she demolishes the dressing room.
RAW Talk:
I truly loved RAW tonight! Sasha verses Sonya was a pretty good match for what it was. I’m really enjoying this Bayley/Sasha build up. Bayley didn’t care about Sasha. She came to even the odds against Absolution and left the second the match ended. It’s giving her a motive to her actions and I enjoy it.
Mickie taking on Asuka was a cute short match. Mickie showed out, but I’m not shocked. Of course Asuka won, so I have nothing to say there. I just don’t understand Asuka and her brand alignment. I know she’s technically a RAW Superstar, but she’s facing Charlotte at WrestleMania and is appearing on SmackDown this week. Maybe she’ll appear on both until she wins the title and she’ll become full time SmackDown LIVE?
I can’t tell you enough how much I love Nia and this storyline. It seems so personal (because it is) and Nia is amazing at acting. The whole interview segment was the perfect reason for Nia to go face and take on Alexa at WrestleMania for the RAW Women’s Championship. Maybe Mickie will get involved and it’ll become a triple threat? I’m so excited either way!
I’m over the moon with this Memorial Battle Royal at ‘Mania! I’ll try to keep this not controversial, but based on what Fabulous Moolah has done to other women, especially aspiring wrestlers who attended her training facility, I’m not too thrilled with the person who is being honored. It should be Chyna for a multitude of reasons, but WWE will never give her the respect she deserves. So, for me, I will be addressing it the Chyna Memorial Battle Royal when I watch it live!