WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley is out next, talking up being the most dominant woman holding a title in the company before noting that Bayley has made her choice to go against her former friend Iyo at WrestleMania. She talks about the challenge ahead of her when she heads home for Elimination Chamber Perth…and is interrupted by Becky Lynch.
Becky calls out the champion, promising she will win the Elimination Chamber to earn her shot at Mami’s title…assuming Ripley makes it past Nia Jax in Perth. This leads to a stare down and some jaw jacking before Adam Pearce intervenes.
Archive for Gallery Updates
Raw General Manager Adam Pearce is in his office with Drew McIntyre. Pearce says it’s two weeks in a row that he has attacked guys that aren’t medically cleared. First, it was CM Punk. Now, it’s World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins. Pearce says he’ll be fining McIntyre. Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley makes her way to the ring. She’s not scheduled to, which upsets Pearce.
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley addresses Nia Jax
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley says Becky Lynch has qualified for the Women’s Elimination Chamber match. She’s here because she wants Nia Jax one-on-one so she can rip her bloody head off. Ripley calls out Nia Jax, but Raw General Manager Adam Pearce comes out. Pearce says this is not the time for this. Pearce gets that she’s upset, but they’re not doing this right now. Pearce gets in the ring. Pearce says he’ll give Ripley a match against Nia Jax for the championship at Elimination Chamber.
Nia Jax’s music hits. Jax quickly makes her way to the ring. Pearce tries to get in her way, but Jax sidesteps him. Ripley and Jax brawl in the ring and knock Pearce off the apron. Pearce shouts for security. Security guards run down and try to separate them, but Jax avalanches them all. Jax then hits Ripley with an Annihilator! Jax slaps Ripley in the face and walks off with a smile on her face.
The Judgment Day Clubhouse
The Judgment Day is watching backstage. WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley says if Bayley chooses her at WrestleMania, then it’s her funeral. Ripley will remind her who she is. Tonight is about sending a message, a message that wasn’t sent at the Royal Rumble. Damian Priest says they’re done with distractions. Finn Bálor says everyone is getting too comfortable challenging the Judgment Day. Tonight, they’ll show the world how vicious they are. Bálor and Priest walk off.
Later on…
Bayley is in the ring with WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors, WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY, and Dakota Kai. Together, they all make up Damage CTRL. Bayley says she’ll let the people take a picture of them in the ring. When was the last time the Women’s Tag Team Champions, the Women’s Champion, and the Royal Rumble were all in the ring together? It’s never been done before. This is history, all because of Bayley. Everyone thought Bayley was done, that she wasn’t as good coming back from injury… she might not have been on the poster, but she is a winner. Bayley won against the most stacked women’s roster they’ve had. She also beat Rhea Ripley’s record and lasted 63 minutes and 3 seconds.
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley comes out to the stage. Ripley says the only reason Bayley beat her time in the Royal Rumble is because she wasn’t in the match. The rest of Damage CTRL has gold. If Bayley chooses her for WrestleMania, it will remain that way. All of a sudden, Nia Jax attacks Bayley from behind. Jax fights Ripley into the ring and hits her with a leg drop. Jax drops two more leg drops before hitting her with an Annilator! Jax approaches Bayley, who cowers in the corner. Jax tells Bayley to pick Iyo because Ripley is not making it to WrestleMania. Bayley sheepishly says she’ll make her decision this Friday.
Royal Rumble Kickoff Show
Now we see a special “earlier today” video where Kayla Braxton talks with Rhea Ripley inside an empty Tropicana Field staring at the ring. Ripley talks about how she can’t envision the winner of tonight’s Rumble calling her out and wasting their ticket to WrestleMania. She boasts being the only one to draw no. 1 and win the entire thing in women’s history and then tells Braxton to hit the bricks so she can be alone.
During the Women’s Royal Rumble match we see WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY is watching backstage. Elsewhere backstage, Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley is watching the match.
The Judgment Day Clubhouse
The Judgment Day is watching backstage. Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley says this is not good. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce told her that next week on Raw, Finn Bálor and Damian Priest will defend the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship against #DIY. She thinks Drew McIntyre is the least of their worries. Priest says he’s not trying to fight everyone. McIntyre will be handled by Priest. He’s not the one walking around with a big head because they’re on the cover of 2K. Priest also isn’t the one going to Pearce’s office to make matches for the Judgment Day every other week. Priest wants her to stop going to Pearce’s office. Priest is going to clear his head for this match. Judgment Day business is under control. Priest walks off.
Ripley tells JD McDonagh and “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio that #DIY should have been taken care of long ago. Bálor is laughing. Ripley asks Bálor what is so funny. Priest will take care of McIntyre alone. She tells Bálor he’ll be at ringside with JD for Dom’s match. It’s been a while since she’s seen the vicious side of Bálor. Bálor asks if she wants vicious. He’ll show her vicious.
Backstage Segment
A dejected Becky Lynch is walking backstage. Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley says she might have to make other plans for WrestleMania. Lynch pouts as Ripley walks off.
The Judgment Day’s Clubhouse
Finn Bálor, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh, and Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley are backstage watching the Nia Jax video. Ripley walks off and says she has to address her division. Damian Priest walks in, and Ripley stares at him before leaving. Bálor asks where Priest has been. Priest says he’s the only one who has an issue with Drew McIntyre running his mouth, so he addressed it with Adam Pearce. JD McDonagh asks when they can beat up R-Truth. Priest tells McDonagh to worry less about R-Truth and worry about not letting what happened tonight happen again. Bálor asks if he’s really defending R-Truth. Priest says that R-Truth earns for the crew. They should go get their cut, but McDonagh shouldn’t count on one. Priest says he and Bálor have serious business and need to focus on their match.
We see Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley walking backstage. She will address the Women’s Division next.
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley addresses the Women’s Division
“THIS IS MY BRUTALITY!”
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley makes her entrance. She looks extremely serious as she heads to the ring. A LOUD “Mami” chant picks up. Ripley looks unimpressed. Ripley says she is so sick and tired of people like Nia Jax running their mouths and claiming that this is their division. This is Rhea Ripley’s division. That’s why this is her championship. The crowd gives her a great ovation. Ripley warns whoever wins the Royal Rumble Match. If they decide to waste their WrestleMania, then she advises them to choose her. If they don’t want to waste that opportunity, they can choose someone else. It’ll end up like last year because Mami is always on top.
Becky Lynch’s music hits! The crowd is absolutely buzzing as Mami and The Man stand in the ring. Lynch says, “So here we stand… two very different people with two very similar journies.” They’re two women from foreign lands who came here to be the very best to ever do it. Both spent years meandering and being afterthoughts at WrestleMania to being the face of the industry at the next one. There’s a difference: one of them went to win the Main Event of WrestleMania. The other did not. There’s another difference. One of them has a natural ability in the ring and finesse that is unmatched with the strength of a bear. The other has a relentlessness and determination that is unmatched. They’re the two very best to do it. There’s this thought and voice in Lynch’s head that keeps her awake. It’s saying to her that Ripley might be better than Lynch. Lynch needs to prove that Ripley is not. To do that, she needs to take that title from her. To do that, she needs to win the Royal Rumble. Lynch needs to point to the sign. She needs to declare at WrestleMania it will be Mami versus The Man.
Ripley says only one person wants Lynch to win the Royal Rumble more than Lynch, and that is Rhea Ripley. Ripley says, “I’ll see you at WrestleMania.” Ripley walks off.
Michael Cole is in the ring. This woman beat Becky Lynch last week and is a favorite to win the Royal Rumble. Cole introduces “The Irresistible Force” Nia Jax.
Nia Jax makes her way to the ring. Cole says she shocked the world when she dominated Becky Lynch to pick up the victory last week on Raw. Jax is incredulous that Cole said it was shocking. Jax wasn’t shocked. She’s a different Nia Jax. She’s more focused. Is Cole like these people here who didn’t think she’d break Becky Lynch’s face again? What would be shocking is if she broke Cole’s face. Jax says she’s more focused on the Royal Rumble. Soon, she’ll run through 29 other women and earn her main event spot at WrestleMania. Whether it be Rhea Ripley or IYO SKY, there’s not a man or woman who can stop her.
“THIS IS MY BRUTALITY!”
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley makes her way to the ring to a huge reaction. Ripley gets in the ring and laughs. A LOUD “Mami” chant fires up. Ripley says these people know what’s up. They also know that Jax likes to talk a big game. Jax is walking around out here like she’s already won the Royal Rumble. Does Jax remember what happened last year because Ripley does. She threw Jax out. Last week, she might have beaten Becky Lynch, which is a fine achievement. The fact remains that Becky Lynch isn’t Rhea “Bloody” Ripley. Until Jax wants to step up to her, she advises her to stop walking around like she owns this division because she doesn’t. If Jax manages to win the Royal Rumble, it’s best to keep Ripley’s name out of her mouth.
Jax says she gives Ripley all the credit. The crowd loudly boos Jax. Ripley might be the most dominant champion in this division’s history, but she put Ripley on her ass when she came back. The only reason she’s not holding that title is because Ripley is too scared to face her one-on-one. At the Royal Rumble when she squashes 29 other women and wins, she’s going to choose Ripley. Ripley will have no excuse and no choice but to face her. Jax says, “See you soon, unstoppable champ.” Jax walks off.
The Judgment Day’s Clubhouse
Damian Priest is shown laughing at what he just watched, but JD McDonagh is not happy. Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley asks when they’re going to handle the R-Truth joke. Priest says when the time comes, they’ll handle it. Ripley says Priest and Finn Bálor have a lot to handle with #DIY. Bálor flips out about them, so Priest calms him down. Priest says Drew McIntyre is too much of a joke to be his enemy. Speaking of enemies, did Ripley think it was a good idea to make one of Nia Jax? Ripley tells McDonagh to take care of The Miz. McDonagh is confident he will.
The Judgment Day’s Clubhouse
Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, and Rhea Ripley are not happy with this result. Bálor says this cannot keep happening. Ripley says she’s going to talk to Raw General Manager Adam Pearce about their plans for next week. Priest says they’ll tell the boys when they get back.
Women’s World Championship
Ivy Nile vs. Rhea Ripley (c)Samantha Irvin handles the in-ring introductions once both competitors are in the ring.
The bell rings, and they lock up. They tussle before Ripley powers Nile down onto her face. Ripley taunts her, so Nile lifts her onto her shoulders. Ripley quickly elbows her and slides off before kicking her in the back of the knee to take her down. Ripley hits a basement dropkick in the head. Ripley powers her up and sends her to the corner. Nile goes for a slingshot over Ripley, but she doesn’t get much air and lands on Ripley. Nile blocks a boot and punches her. Ripley reverses a whip to the opposite corner, but Nile boots her back. Ripley quickly puts her on the apron, but Nile forearms her back. Nile goes to the top rope for a cross-body block for a one-count. Ripley quickly pops up and boots her down.
Ripley talks trash to Nile and clubs the back. Ripley talks trash and sends Nile into the ropes, but Nile takes her out with a running hurricanrana. Ripley goes for a kick, but Nile blocks it and slams Ripley down. Ripley gets out of the ring to recover.
Picture-in-Picture Commercial Break: Ripley is absolutely irate at ringside and takes her time getting back in. Ripley finally does and charges, but Nile pulls the top rope down to send her right back outside. Nile hits a baseball slide and bounces her off the apron. Ripley quickly kicks her, but Nile fights back. Ripley cuts her off and hits an electric chair facebuster on the ring apron. Ripley gets her in the ring and sends her into the ropes before clubbing her in the small of the back. Ripley repeats the move, and Nile is in a lot of pain. Ripley signals that this match is getting easy for her. Ripley again attacks the lower back. Ripley grabs Nile, but Nile hits a jawbreaker. This simply angers Ripley, who attacks Nile and picks up a two-count. Ripley stands over Nile and punches away at her. Ripley then applies a seated abdominal stretch.
Back from the break, Ripley is digging an elbow into the ribs of Nile as she cinches in the seated abdominal stretch. Nile fights up and punches her, but Ripley easily dropkicks her out of the ring. Ripley checks her mouth for cuts before going outside. Ripley goes for an electric chair facebuster onto the apron again, but Nile gets out. Nile grabs her in a waistlock, and Ripley shouts, “Oh, s**t,” before taking a German Suplex on the floor!
Nile kicks Ripley as she gets in the ring and hits a spin kick to the face. Nile connects with a head-scissor takeover, and the crowd is getting behind her. Nile kicks Ripley in the corner and hits a leg lariat for a two-count. Nile hooks a front facelock, but Ripley fights out. Nile fights back with a satellite DDT for a near fall. Nile pulls Ripley up and sets up for a move, but Ripley fights out. Nile flips through a back suplex, but she doesn’t stick the landing. Ripley soon head-butts Nile down and goes to the top rope for a vicious missile dropkick. 1… 2… Nile kicks out. Ripley is getting frustrated.
Ripley sets up for a Riptide, but Nile slides through and kicks her in the ear. Nile hits a snap fireman’s carry slam for a near fall. Nile pulls her up, but Ripley fights back and smashes her face on her knee. Ripley crushes her with a lariat. Ripley powers her up and slams her down onto her face for a near fall. Ripley grabs her by the hair and shoves her to the corner. Ripley shoulders away at her in the corner and puts her on the top rope. Ripley punches her in the face and sets up for a superplex. Nile fights back and goes for a sunset flip powerbomb, but Ripley hangs on. Nile bounces Ripley’s head off the turnbuckle and hits a German Suplex off the second rope for a near fall! That was nasty!
Nile kicks away at Ripley. The crowd chants, “This is awesome!” Nile takes Ripley down after a flurry of kicks to the chest. Nile goes to the top rope and dives, but Ripley head-butts her out of mid-air! Ripley knees her and connects with a decisive Riptide for the win!
Winner by Pinfall and still Women’s World Champion: Rhea Ripley
The Judgment Day makes their way to the ring. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Finn Bálor and Damian Priest head to the ring alongside Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, and JD McDonagh.
Damian Priest welcomes everyone to Monday Night Raw and tells them to rise for the Judgment Day. Finn Bálor sarcastically puts over the Creed Brothers for becoming the #1 Contenders for the Undisputed Tag Team Championship. For them, it’ll be the biggest match of their careers and the biggest night of their lives. For Priest and Bálor, it’s just another night at the office because they’re stepping in the ring with the only two-time Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions of the World.
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley takes the microphone. She warns Ivy Nile not to run her mouth, or she’ll make what she did to her friend Maxxine Dupri pale in comparison. It’s as simple as this: the Judgment Day ran 2023 and will continue to run 2024. “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio starts to speak, but the crowd boos him down. Mysterio shouts that the Judgment Day runs all of WWE.
R-Truth comes out wearing a Judgment Day shirt with his name written on tape over it. R-Truth welcomes everyone to the show and gets in the ring. R-Truth thinks he’s in Judgment Day. The beatdown last week was his initiation. R-Truth isn’t one to complain, but they crossed a line a little bit. He was hurt physically and emotionally. R-Truth calls Priest “DP” and says he knows he didn’t mean it when he said he didn’t like him. JD McDonagh says if getting hurt is what R-Truth is worried about, he should get out of the ring now.
R-Truth says it seems like everyone is looking for a fight. Ripley wants to beat up Nile, while Bálor and Priest want to beat up the Creed Brothers. R-Truth needs someone to beat up on. R-Truth then stares at McDonagh. R-Truth says he’s seeing the Christmas trees and lights. There is a lot of animosity between him and McDonagh. They need to squash the beef to be a happy family in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight. McDonagh says the match was already made and advertised. R-Truth says 34th Street is far away and asks Siri how far it is. McDonagh says it’s happening in this ring and says R-Truth isn’t in the Judgment Day. R-Truth says he’s not in the Judgment Day if he loses his match, but McDonagh isn’t if he doesn’t win. This will be a “Loser Leaves the Judgment Day Match.” Priest looks amused and says it’s good to go. McDonagh says he’ll need a miracle to beat him.
The Judgment Day’s Clubhouse
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Finn Bálor and Damian Priest and “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio are joking with JD McDonagh about losing to R-Truth. JD McDonagh looks devastated and thinks he’s out of the Judgment Day. Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley is not happy that they’re taking the loss so lightly since it reflects on them all. She wants them to get serious. She’ll get them on track by facing Ivy Nile in two weeks with the Women’s World Title on the line. Bálor says they’ll show the Creed Brothers why they are the Tag Champions.
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
The Creed Brothers (Brutus and Julius Creed) w/ Ivy Nile vs. The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and “Señor Money in the Bank” Damian Priest) (c’s) w/ Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley
Julius Creed starts against Finn Bálor. The bell rings, and Julius quickly slams Bálor down. Julius grabs him and rolls around the mat with Bálor. Bálor looks surprised at the fire from Julius. Bálor kicks Julius in the midsection, but Julius comes back with a hip toss. Priest runs in, and Julius hits him with a hip toss. Brutus Creed runs in, and the Creed Brothers clear the Judgment Day from the ring. Rhea Ripley is furious.
We come back from the break to see Julius hit Bálor with a fireman’s carry. Brutus Creed tags in, and the Creed Brothers hit Bálor with a double-team fireman’s carry. Bálor fights back and bounces Brutus off the turnbuckle. Brutus reverses a whip to the opposite corner. Brutus knees Bálor in the midsection and tags Julius back into the match. Julius and Brutus go back and forth kneeing Bálor before hitting a double-team gutbuster. Bálor whips Julius into the ropes, and Priest blind tags in. Priest pulls the top rope down to get Julius out of the ring. Priest then clotheslines Julius at ringside. Ripley is pleased with what she’s seeing. Priest sends Julius into ring steps and nearly takes out Ripley.
Bálor tags in and takes it to Julius. Julius soon boots him down and kicks him away. Brutus tags in and clotheslines Bálor before knocking Priest off the apron. Brutus clubs away at Bálor and hits a gutwrench suplex. Brutus avalanches Bálor in the corner and puts Bálor on his shoulders for a slam to pick up a two-count. Priest blind tags in and whiffs on a kick. Brutus is sent out of the ring, and Priest hits a pounce over the commentary table. Priest is fired up.
Back from the final commercial break of 2023, Priest and Brutus are going back and forth with some forearms. Priest comes out on top by laying in some nasty forearms to the jaw. Priest charges, but Brutus catches him. Priest tries to fight out, but Brutus keeps the big man powered up and hits a back suplex.
Bálor and Julius tag in. Julius hits a pair of shoulder tackles followed by an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Julius kips up and hits Priest with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Julius kips up and hits Bálor with another overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Julius connects with a standing shooting star press for a two-count. Julius gets Bálor on his shoulders, and Brutus climbs for a Brutus Ball, but Priest pushes Brutus to ringside. Bálor rolls Julius up for a two-count. Julius knocks Priest off the apron. Julius and Bálor then take each other out with a double clothesline.
Rhea Ripley attacks Ivy Nile from behind and puts her in position for the electric chair. Nile gets out and puts Ripley on her shoulders before putting her on her shoulders. Nile slams Ripley onto the apron. The Creed Brothers then hit Bálor with the Brutus Ball. 1… 2… Priest breaks up the pin. Priest goes for the South of Heaven, but Julius fights out. Julius flips through and dropkicks Priest out of the ring. Julius scales the ropes and hits a wild somersault senton to the floor on Priest!
In the ring, Bálor hits Brutus with a Sling Blade and follows up with a Woo Dropkick. Bálor goes to the top rope, but Julius scales the ropes for a superplex. Priest blind tags in and gets Julius on his shoulders. Brutus crotches Bálor on the top rope. Julius gets off Priest’s shoulders and lifts him for a Brutus Ball! 1… 2… Bálor breaks up the pin with a Coup de Grâce! The crowd is going wild! Brutus spills out of the ring with Bálor and lands hard. In the ring, Priest hits Julius with a South of Heaven for the win. Julius kicked out right after the final count of the pin.
Winners by Pinfall and still Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions: The Judgment Day
The Judgment Day celebrates with the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship as the final Raw of 2023 comes to an end.
The Judgment Day’s Clubhouse
The Judgment Day are not looking happy backstage. Finn Bálor says he and Rhea Ripley have been gone for a week, and they all let the wheels fall off. Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley says that JD McDonagh keeps letting R-Truth into their clubhouse. Last week, JD and Dom lost to the Creed Brothers. Then Dom lost the NXT North American Championship, and that sucks. Priest says they’re not going to take the Creed Brothers lightly. Ripley tells Priest that it’s easier to call himself a leader than to be one. They start to argue, but Ripley says she’s talking to everyone. Ripley will show why they’re dominant by taking out Maxxine Dupri.
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley makes her entrance. She’ll face Maxxine Dupri in a non-title match next.
-Commercial Break-
Non-Title Match
Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Maxxine Dupri w/ Ivy Nile
Maxxine Dupri looks a little nervous as the bell rings. Maxxine ducks a pair of clotheslines and slaps the champion in the face. Ripley is irate and hits a trio of short-arm clotheslines. Ripley sets up for a powerbomb, but Maxxine (sort of) fights it. Maxxine counters with a hurricanrana and dropkicks her. Ripley is not happy. Maxxine tries to roll her up, but Ripley doesn’t go down and connects with a big boot. Ripley powers Maxxine up for a Riptide and talks trash to her rather than going for a cover. Ripley then applies a Prism Trap and forces her to submit.Winner by Submission: Rhea Ripley
Ripley holds the Prism Trap for a few moments after the match, but she releases it as Ivy Nile gets in the ring and stares her down. Ripley holds up the title and smiles before coyly waving at her.