Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: Rhea Ripley certainly doesn’t need help from Dominik Mysterio to win her matches. She’s proven that numerous times on her way to becoming Women’s World Championship. That said, it’s fair to wonder if it’ll get in her head looking ringside tonight during WWE Raw in Norfolk and not seeing Dirty Dom there to support her.
Ripley can use any edge she can get because Raquel Rodriguez has been a determined challenger who is a legit threat to dethrone her. Rodriguez is powerful enough to stand her ground against Ripley, and she’s motivated by what the champ did to both her and tag team partner Liv Morgan, so she’s not going to stop.
All we’re saying is that with Dom barred from ringside tonight for the title rematch, Ripley might not have the same comfort level she usually does. And given the way she’s put the rest of The Judgment Day on notice if they didn’t win gold, it would be ironic indeed if she loses hers first.
Cody Rhodes is going to talk about something on Raw this evening as well, and while we fully expect that he’ll ask us what we want to talk about, we feel just as sure that he already has something in mind. We’re just not exactly sure what that might be, and if it still has to do with recently arrived Jey Uso.
Plus, Imperium is going to throw a championship celebration for Gunther, which he deserves as the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time. But has he truly beaten everyone worth beating, or will someone new choose this occasion to declare themselves next in line to try to topple the Ring General?
These are the reasons we watch.
WWE Raw results from Norfolk:
(scroll down for full details on any match or segment in bold)
- Jey Uso is caught between Kevin Owens saying do the work and The Judgment Day trying to recruit him, but offers to team with KO tonight
- The Judgment Day (Damian Priest and Finn Balor) def. Jey Uso and Kevin Owens by pinfall, after an Uso superkick accidentally hits Owens and sets up their opponents’ victory
- Uso attempts to apologize to Owens, but KO angrily tells him to go join “your new Bloodline” and accept the Judgment Day’s offer to join
- A highlight package is shown of Gunther’s victory over Chad Gable last week that helped make him a record-holder; afterward, a car pulls up and Imperium gets out, dressed to the nines
- The Miz def. Akira Tozawa by pinfall
- Raquel Rodriguez tells Byron Saxton that Rhea Ripley might be the most dominant women’s champ ever, but she’s not like most challengers and Dom won’t be there to help Rhea tonight
- Chelsea Green makes the mistake of calling Shayna Baszler a peer, and besides, she doesn’t need a partner because Piper Niven is back
- Gunther is ready to celebrate his historic Intercontinental Championship reign, but Chad Gable isn’t done with him yet
- Xavier Woods wants to know why Drew McIntyre was trash talking Kofi Kingston and isn’t happy with the answer he gets, then goads the Scottish Warrior into a match
- Backstage, Ciampa explains why he came to Alpha Academy’s aid, and Otis suggests the three of them challenge Imperium tonight
- Drew McIntyre vs. Xavier Woods by pinfall
- Cody Rhodes wants to talk about Jey Uso but has to fight off Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh instead
- McIntyre tells Jey he doesn’t trust him, saying he doubts Uso can stand on his own two feet; Jey says he’ll prove he can by facing McIntyre next week, and Drew quickly accepts
- Shayna Baszler def. Chelsea Green by pinfall, then gets some help from Zoey Stark to avoid a post-match beating from Piper Niven
- Shinsuke Nakamura is still focused on taking Seth Rollins’ title and says he will challenge for it again when he feels like it
- Rollins comes to the ring and admits that he is all the bad things Nakamura claims he is, but he’s also some good things, and it simply took a long time to realize he just needed to be himself; he also offers the chance for Shinsuke to come get the World Heavyweight Championship right now, but Nak is busy beating up Ricochet backstage instead
- Balor approaches Jey and says The Judgment Day are his only fans on Raw, and the door is always open for him
- Alpha Academy and Tommaso Ciampa def. Imperium by submission
- The Judgment Day says the more Jey feels isolated, the better the chance that he joins them; Rhea tells Dom not to worry, as she always comes out on top
- Tiffany Stratton is upset that she’s been waiting for Becky Lynch, but The Man arrives to sign a contract for their title match on NXT; Lynch also says her problem with Stratton is that she only wants to be famous, while Tiffany says she doesn’t need Becky to be a big deal since she’s been doing that for herself
- Rhea Ripley def. Raquel Rodriguez by pinfall to retain the Women’s World Championship, thanks to a dramatic return by Nia Jax, who then assaults Ripley after the bell