Rhea Ripley’s issues with The Judgment Day will continue on next week’s WWE Raw in one of three matches announced for the show.
Ripley will take on The Judgment Day’s Raquel Rodriguez next week following an angle on this week’s episode where Rodriguez threw Ripley into the announce table eye-first. Ripley has just returned from an orbital bone injury.
The Women’s Intercontinental Championship tournament also continues on next week’s Raw with a quarterfinals tripe threat matchup. It will be Lyra Valkyria vs. Ivy Nile vs. Zelina Vega next week with a spot in the semifinals on the line.
An eight-man tag team match is also set for next week as the feud between The Wyatt Sicks and The Final Testament continues. Final Testament’s Karrion Kross, Akam, Rezar, and The Miz, with Scarlett in their corner, will face Bo Dallas, Dexter Lumis, Joe Gacy, and Erick Rowan, with Nikki Cross in the Wyatt Sicks’ corner.
Raw GM Adam Pearce also revealed that he will discuss The Judgment Day’s next Tag Team title defense with Finn Balor on next week’s episode. Balor and McDonagh hold the World Tag Team titles.
The announced lineup for next week’s Raw:
Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez
Women’s Intercontinental Championship tournament quarterfinals: Lyra Valkyria vs. Ivy Nile vs. Zelina Vega
Wyatt Sicks (Bo Dallas, Joe Gacy, Erick Rowan & Dexter Lumis) w/Nikki Cross vs. Final Testament (Karrion Kross, Akam, Rezar & The Miz) w/Scarlett
WarGames allowed Rhea Ripley to get some revenge on her arch rival Liv Morgan.
After delivering Riptide off the top rope through a table, Ripley pinned Morgan to win the women’s WarGames match at Survivor Series on Saturday night. Ripley was part of the babyface team with Bianca Belair, Naomi, IYO SKY & Bayley, defeating Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton & Candice LeRae.
Though SKY is already the number one contender to Morgan’s Women’s World Championship, this victory should put Ripley in line for a title shot as well. Ripley was forced to vacate the belt this April due to injury. Since becoming champion, Morgan has largely been able to stay one step ahead of Ripley in WWE storylines.
Ripley entered the WarGames cage wearing a special protective face mask after being attacked with baseball bats by Morgan and Rodriguez last month — but she soon removed it as a way to make a statement and prove that she is healed. Rodriguez was neutralized during the match when Ripley handcuffed her to the turnbuckle.
A highlight of WarGames saw SKY and Stratton hit simultaneous dives from the top of the cage, with SKY again recreating her classic WarGames spot by putting a trash can over her body before jumping.
There was a moment where Stratton was about to cash in her Money in the Bank briefcase while both Jax and Morgan were down, but Rodriguez put a stop to that before Stratton cashed in. Stratton did not reveal whether she was going to go after Morgan’s Women’s World Championship or betray Jax and cash in for the WWE Women’s Championship.
During the tapings for next weekâs WWE Raw in Grand Rapids, Rhea Ripley came out wearing a noseguard and attacked WWE Womenâs World Champion Liv Morgan. A brawl ensued featuring multiple women leaving Ripley, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, Naomi, and IYO SKY standing tall over the likes of Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Tiffany Stratton, and Nia Jax, likely setting up a WarGames match at Survivor Series later this month.
On the October 29 edition of NXT, Ripley was written out of storylines after being left a bloody mess in the parking lot. Morgan and Rodriguez were seen walking away holding baseball bats as personnel tended to Ripley. In reality, Ripley had suffered a fractured orbital bone at some point in October. At the time, there was no timetable for a return.
Ripleyâs momentum in WWE was paused earlier in the year when a shoulder injury kept her out of action for three months. Ripley has attempted to win back the Womenâs World Championship back but has come up short each time.
Rhea Ripley discussed some of the obstacles that have been put in the way of female athletes in WWE during a recent interview with Jazzy’s World.
Ripley, who has been out of action with a broken orbital bone since late last month, said that for a long time, women’s matches were considered a “toilet break” and that they’ve had to struggle to be taken seriously.
Ripley said:
“The women in WWE, we’ve come a very, very long way. We’ve overcome a lot of obstacles that were put in the way, and it’s been growing each and every year. I think that was the biggest obstacle, just getting people to sort of take us seriously. For the longest time, people joked about us being the toilet break, which is just plain disrespectful, especially when the women go out there, and we leave everything that we have out in the ring, and we go just as hard as the men do so don’t treat us with that disrespect. So, we’re making people realize that we can go just as hard as the men, if not harder.”
Ripley also mentioned during the interview that, given the constraints of their profession, it is difficult for many female WWE performers to start a family.
Ripley continued:
“A lot of us, we get motherhood taken away for a long time. I’m still young, yes, but I work for WWE; itâs very demanding. I probably canât have kids for the next 5 to 10 years because I donât want to have to bring them on the road and put them through that. I’m not good at that, but then you look at someone like Becky Lynch, who did go and have a kid and did come back and is still the badass, the man, she is herself and she’s a great mother while she does that. She brings Roux on the road every now and then and she’s absolutely killing it. But yeah, we get a lot taken away from us or pushed back, and I donât think people really realize that.”
There is no timetable for Ripley’s return to WWE. The injury occurred just weeks after it was reported that she and WWE had agreed on a new long-term deal. Ripley also missed three months earlier this year with a shoulder injury and was forced to vacate the Women’s World Championship as a result.
Ripley’s full appearance on Jazzys World is below:
The Rhea Ripley fractured orbital bone injury announced Wednesday by WWE is indeed legitimate and was sustained at some point last week.
Dave Meltzer reported the above detail on last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio, saying he assumed the break most likely happened on last week’s WWE Raw during the brawl between herself, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.
Ripley was written off in storyline during Tuesday’s WWE NXT as Morgan and Rodriguez attacked Ripley in the parking lot, but the “attack” wasn’t shown on TV. WWE announced the NXT angle was when Ripley’s injury was sustained with Meltzer saying that was done as a storyline cover for her to be out of action.
Ripley had not been announced for any match on this Saturday’s Crown Jewel which will see Morgan take on Nia Jax for the inaugural and ceremonial Crown Jewel title.
There is no timeline for her return.
It’s been a tough 2024 injury-wise for Ripley who was out for nearly three months earlier this year due to a shoulder injury.
Rhea Ripley is out for an “undisclosed amount of time” after suffering a fractured right orbital socket, according to WWE.
In a news story posted to their website late Wednesday, WWE says that Ripley suffered the orbital fracture on Tuesday’s WWE NXT episode where Ripley made a surprise appearance. WWE wrote:
“Last night on NXT, Rhea Ripley was heinously attacked in the parking lot by Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan and her enforcer Raquel Rodriguez. Following the brutal attack, it has been revealed that The Nightmare has suffered a fractured right orbital socket, which will put Ripley out of action for an undisclosed amount of time. Make sure to follow all WWE social media platforms as this story develops.”
An injury angle was shot involving Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez of The Judgment Day attacking Ripley in the NXT parking lot on the program.
The attack was never shown on camera, with Ripley shown bloodied after the fact indicating that if legitimate, the injury came at an earlier date and the angle on NXT was to provide a storyline reason for Ripley’s absence. Morgan and Rodriguez were shown walking away from the presumed attack on Ripley.
Ripley missed roughly three months of action earlier this year due to a shoulder injury. Morgan is currently the Women’s World Champion and faces Nia Jax for the Crown Jewel Championship this Saturday at WWE’s Crown Jewel PLE.
A storyline from the Raw brand continued on Tuesdayâs NXT.
Ava was talking to Robert Stone and Stevie Turner regarding next weekâs show at the ECW Arena when referees ran past her and into the parking lot. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were seen walking away from the scene with baseball bats as referees found Ripley a bloody mess outside of her car.
A few moments earlier, Ripley made a surprise appearance on NXT, giving the likes of Zaria, Stephanie Vaquer, Giulia, Jordynne Grace, and Kelani Jordan a pep talk ahead of their match next week at the 2300 Arena, where they will face Fatal Influence, Roxanne Perez, and Cora Jade. Ripley told them to “blow the bloody roof off.”
At Bad Blood earlier this month, Rodriguez made her return and cost Ripley a chance to regain the Womenâs World title from Morgan. On Mondayâs Raw, Ripley said that while she had made mistakes in the past, it was now only about winning the Womenâs World title and they would have to kill her in order to stop her.
An appearance by Rhea Ripley will kick off WWE Raw tonight.
WWE has announced that Ripley will appear at the start of tonight’s show, which was taped last week in St. Louis. Spoilers for the episode can be found here.
Ripley is set to address Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez during her appearance on tonight’s Raw. At Bad Blood, Rodriguez returned to WWE programming and attacked Ripley during her match against Morgan. Though Rodriguez’s attack caused Ripley to win by disqualification, the result meant that Morgan retained her Women’s World Championship
“Although interference by a returning Raquel Rodriguez gave her a disqualification win over Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan at WWE Bad Blood, Rhea Ripley still walked away without the gold and thirsty for more,” WWE wrote. “After unleashing chaos on SmackDown, Ripley will surely bring her special brand of brutality when she kicks off Monday Night Raw. Don’t miss a moment of the action at 8/7 C on USA.”
Ripley brawled with Rodriguez and Morgan on SmackDown last Friday until the two heels were able to get away.
Dave Meltzer and I are back with our Friday episode of Wrestling Observer Radio. We talked about all the big news in today’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, but first talked to Robert Sweeney from Kino Lorber which put out the Blu-Ray release of the 1980 film Below the Belt in which Dave did a commentary track for.
Here were some of the things we covered after we talked to Robert:
If the Rock is currently scheduled for WrestleMania next year
AEW Dynamite’s poor rating on Tuesday and what to learn from it
AEW Dynamite in San Jose
Daniel Garcia’s and Rhea Ripley’s contract renewals
Rhea Ripley is reportedly the next big star to be locked up with a new long-term WWE contract.
PWInsider first reported on Thursday that Ripley, who turns 28 on Friday, and WWE have come to terms on what is said to be a five-year contract with the deal just needing to be signed. It also comes with a “considerable raise,” according to the outlet.
Ripley and Damian Priest are currently feuding with their former Judgment Day teammates.
After cutting her teeth on the Australian indie scene, Ripley first signed with WWE in 2017 and made her debut as part of the Mae Young Classic tournament before heading to the NXT UK brand in 2018. She became their first-ever NXT UK Women’s Champion and eventually returned to NXT stateside in the late-summer of 2019.
She was called up to the main roster in the first quarter of 2021 and won the then-Raw Women’s title by defeating Asuka at WrestleMania 37.
She is the fifth women’s Grand Slam champion and seventh women’s Triple Crown champion in WWE history, holding nearly every major title the company has.
Rhea Ripley says she was sad when the original Judgment Day broke up but also enjoys “absolutely brutalizing” this new version of the group.
Ripley was a guest on The Wrestling Classic recently and was asked about her time in the faction coming to an end.
“The Judgment Day was really family to me, like it really was,” Ripley said. “It has helped my career so much more than I can actually put into words cause I feel like that was when I started opening up and feeling comfortable going out there in front of the crowd because I had the boys that I could fall back on. So it was really emotional for me.”
David Shoemaker of the Ringer noted on his podcast recently that one member of Judgment Day was “breaking up” and shedding tears backstage due to the group’s breakup. Ripley says that was her.
“I’m not ashamed of it, that was me, I was upset,” Ripley continued. “I was like, the last two and a half years of my life is going to be… like it’s changed now. I can’t go back to that. They were my boys, they were my family, and it was really sad but at the same time, when something so good comes to an end, the other side of it is that something amazing is about to start as well. And I wasn’t really thinking about that because I was just so emotional. Yeah, that was the most fun that I’ve had in my career in a long time. I felt invincible. I felt like I could go out there and just be a cheeky little menace and get away with it, for real, and have fun with my friends.”
Ripley has only wrestled once since Dominik Mysterio turned on her and aligned with Liv Morgan at SummerSlam. Her and Damian Priest defeated Morgan and Dominik at Bash in Berlin and now Ripley will get a rematch with Morgan on October 5 at Bad Blood.
“I loved my time with the Judgment Day, but I feel like now I’m loving my time absolutely brutalizing the Judgment Day. They’re not the real Judgment Day, they’re street trash,” Ripley concluded.
Ripley’s full appearance on The Wrestling Classic is available below:
Dominik Mysterio is up for wrestling Rhea Ripley, but he doesn’t think WWE will ever book it.
Dominik and Liv Morgan lost to Ripley and Damian Priest at Bash in Berlin on Saturday and Ripley was able to get her hands on Dominik during the match. However, Morgan was able to rescue him before Ripley gave him a Riptide.
Dominik was asked about a potential match against Ripley during a recent appearance on The Gorilla Position.
“I don’t think they’d book it but I’m here for it,” Dominik responded when asked about a possible match against Ripley. “Yeah (I’d do it), I mean, but let’s just leave it at that.”
Morgan, who was also a guest on the show, reacted to one of the hosts commenting that Ripley would “destroy” Dominik if the match ever happened.
“Excuse you, excuse you, there is no possible way that that happens. No, not even for one single second,” she responded.
“I came out of my mother’s womb and dropkicked the doctor,” Dominik added. “What do you think I would be willing to do as a 27-year-old?”
A co-host commented that, at least, Dominik didn’t dropkick his mother.
“Well, you don’t know,” Dominik responded. “I took out the doctor, who knows what happened next?”
Today’s WWE Bash in Berlin in Germany (1 PM Eastern on Peacock/WWE Network) should be another fast-paced, three-hour PLE.
The Paul âTriple Hâ Levesque era is all about these five-match shows. Itâs how he ran TakeOver events back in the first black & gold era of NXT and now heâs brought that philosophy to the main roster. The idea is they save some matches for SmackDown, such as LA Knightâs US title defense this week, and each PLE match gets all the time it needs. On top of that, keeping the shows under the three-hour mark helps ensure fans stay hot throughout.Â
Still, Iâve heard fans express they donât like the short lineups. When you look at the international shows that have followed this format, however, theyâve all been well-reviewed. Backlash France, King & Queen of the Ring in Saudi Arabia, Money in the Bank in Toronto, and Clash at the Castle in Glasgow were all excellent shows.
Many of the above-mentioned PLEs benefited greatly from having a hot crowd and Berlinâs fans will likely be bringing their A-game to this show. I’m expecting Gunther to receive a hero’s welcome. I think when this show was announced, many felt this would be where Gunther wins the World title rather than his first defense, but this works too. It’s almost as if Saturday is his home championship parade after having won the title in an away game.
Wrestling fans are spoiled with good PPV/PLEs right now and this wonât be any different. Below are previews and predictions for each match at Bash in Berlin.Â
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against Kevin Owens
Rhodes heads into this title defense against Owens as a -6000 favorite and itâs hard to disagree with those odds.Â
While the result is not in question, how we get there should be interesting. In recent weeks, WWE has done a good job of reminding the audience (and Rhodes) about all the times Owens has turned on someone who was seemingly his friend. So, will he do it again? It doesnât feel like anyone is asking for a KO heel turn at the moment, but that doesnât mean it wonât happen.
The possibility that Owens will turn heel during this program with Rhodes seems high, but it also feels likely Randy Orton and Rhodes will run a similar program sometime before WrestleMania. Thereâs more history with Orton and Rhodes so if they are going with the jilted friend angle, it makes more sense with Orton.Â
Rhodes will win clean and either Owens will remain a babyface or we will start to see some signs of him breaking bad again.
Prediction: Rhodes retains
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther defends against Randy Orton
Gunther is also a -6000 favorite to successfully defend against Orton and I, along with many others, would be shocked if anything other than that happens.Â
This will be a straight match with a clean finish and a chance for the live fans to give Gunther his flowers. I also think many will be surprised at how well these two pair up and the kind of chemistry they have. On the surface, itâs two guys from completely different generations and backgrounds, but this will probably be the best match on the show.Â
Iâm also very interested to see Ortonâs approach to taking Gunther’s chops. It feels like it could go either way. Either he wonât want to take many of them, or heâll want to take more of them than anyone else on the main roster has so far. No middle ground.
Prediction: Gunther retains
WWE Womenâs Tag Team Champions Unholy Union (Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn) defend against Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair
Belair & Cargill are listed as -175 favorites to defeat the Unholy Union, but there are a couple of scenarios that would see the champions retaining.Â
At some point, either Cargill is turning on Belair or vice versa. Itâs just not clear how exactly this match will play into this eventuality.Â
Three possible things could happen here:
Cargill and Belair go full Road Warriors and run through the Unholy Union to take back their titles
Either Cargill or Belair turns on the other and Fyre & Dawn retain
There is a miscommunication or some other type of mild breakup tease between Cargill and Belair, resulting in the Unholy Union retaining
Blair Davenport and Naomi will also get involved. but will likely just cancel each other out.Â
As for whether it is Cargill turning on Belair or Belair turning on Cargill, I think itâs more likely that Cargill ends up heel. I have a hard time picturing a heel Belair, but they may go that route too.Â
Admittedly, part of the reason Iâm picking Fyre & Dawn to retain is that I just donât want to pick all the favorites but I also think thereâs a decent chance they win.
Prediction: Unholy Union retains
Dominik Mysterio & Liv Morgan vs. Damian Priest & Rhea Ripley
The Terror Twins are listed as -250 favorites and those seem like fair odds.
Normally, a new or recently restructured faction would win in their first big PLE match but that doesnât make the most sense here. Ripley and Priest are both coming off losses at SummerSlam, Morgan is on fire right now, but then there is good ol’ Dominik. You can always pin Dominik.
The most likely finish is Dominik taking a Riptide from Ripley and Priest pinning him shortly after. That is the way.
You could have Ripley pin Morgan to set up another title match between them, but that wouldnât be as satisfying to the audience as Dominik getting his comeuppance. There are lots of ways to get to another match between Ripley and Morgan, and they donât have to have Morgan take a pin in a tag match to do that.Â
Prediction: Priest & Ripley
CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre in a strap match
Punk is listed as a -500 favorite to win and probably will.Â
It was mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio recently that the rules of this match tend to favor the heel going over. They are going with the touch all four corners rule which is a prime breeding ground for either a fluke or a dirty win. There are examples of babyfaces winning these matches like Eddie Guerrero beating Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at No Way Out in 2004. I think that match might be a blueprint of sorts for what we see in Berlin.Â
During his AEW run, Punk was often portrayed in his matches as not being as good as the other guy but he uses his veteran skills and high ring IQ to find a way to win. He may do something similar here. The rules of this strap match also provide an opportunity for Punk to win in a fair way, which could be considered clean, but he wins by being smarter, not more athletic, stronger or just being a better wrestler.Â
Another factor is that itâs rumored/heavily believed Punk vs. McIntyre III will take place inside Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood. So, whatever happens in Berlin should lead to that.Â
Two segments have been added to the lineup for Monday’s WWE Raw.
Randy Orton appearing live is now scheduled for the show, as is an update on The Terror Twins, Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest.
Ripley and Priest were attacked and left lying by the new Judgment Day team of Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, Liv Morgan, JD McDonagh, and Carlito last week. They’ll team together at Bash in Berlin against Dominik and Morgan in a mixed tag.
“Last week, The Judgment Day completely dismantled former allies Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley in a destructive ambush. Following the heinous attack, what is the condition of Priest and Ripley? Has the dark faction proven its superiority over The Terror Twins? How will it affect the Mixed Tag Team Match pitting Women’s Women Champion Liv Morgan and “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio against Ripley and Priest at WWE Bash in Berlin?” WWE.com’s preview for Monday’s Raw reads.
As for Orton, this will be the last episode of WWE Raw before he heads to Berlin to challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship.
“Days before challenging World Heavyweight Champion Gunther at WWE Bash in Berlin, Randy Orton will be live on Monday Night Raw. The road to The Viper’s highly anticipated rematch against The Ring General has been extremely volatile, including their slugfest last week as Raw concluded,” reads WWE.com.
WWE Raw announced lineup for Monday, August 26, 2024 —
Uncle Howdy vs. Chad Gable
Bronson Reed vs. Braun Strowman
Tournament to crown Intercontinental title number one contender begins
