The former Ruby Riott is now #AllElite as Ruby Soho debuted at AEW All Out Sunday in the women’s Casino Battle Royale, winning the match to earn a future shot at Women’s Champion Britt Baker.
As had been rumored, Soho was the final entrant (the joker) into the match, entering to Rancid’s “Ruby Soho” to a loud ovation with a wide smile on her face.
Soho, Thunder Rosa and Nyla Rose were the final three women in the match. Rosa eliminated Rose and she and Soho battled for several minutes, eventually spilling to the ring apron.
Soho looked for a belly-to-back suplex but couldn’t get it while Rosa looked for a death valley driver and also couldn’t hit it. The end came when Soho hit a jumping head kick that staggered Rosa until she fell off the apron to the floor.
After five years in their system, Soho was released by WWE in June and recently began sharing videos teasing her comeback.
Fightful Select reported this morning that according to “talent and industry insiders”, Soho is headed to AEW. Her no-compete clause is scheduled to end before All Out on September 5. They further reported that one promoter that tried to reach out to Soho as far back as a month ago were told that she wasn’t taking any bookings.
Soho, formerly Ruby Riott, has largely been silent since being released by WWE on June 2. She has since changed her name to Ruby Soho, named after a song by the band Rancid. She most recently posted a new picture on Twitter.
When she signed with WWE in 2016, Riott first appeared on NXT, then later on the main roster with Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan. Collectively, they were known as The Riott Squad. They continued to team together until 2019, when the stable was split up due to the Superstar Shake-up.
After taking time off for double shoulder surgery, Riott returned in early 2020. After initially feuding with Morgan, the two eventually reunited and teamed together until Riott’s release.
There’s an axiom that goes back to the beginning of time, which is that you draw based on the main event and not the depth of the show. It’s been shown over-and-over again in every combat sport. Granted, in wrestling, things have changed in the sense that WWE draws based on the name value of its biggest shows although in the PPV era, the highs and lows of those shows were always main event based.
Double or Nothing on 5/30 turned out to be the exception, because most saw it as a deep card, but it didn’t have the killer main event that other shows had. But it ended up as the second most successful PPV show in company history, trailing only Revolution earlier this year.
Unlike with Revolution, which, when it became clear it was breaking the old record, we asked people why and the reason was largely exactly what one would think, people were interested in the explosive barbed wire match with Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley for the AEW title and that match got people to buy.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, Ruby Riott (real name Dori Prange) commented on her release from WWE and reflected on what she’s been able to accomplish in her career thus far.
Riott wrote that she’s overwhelmed by the amount of support she’s received from friends, family, fans, and former co-workers following her release. Riott said that they’ll never know how much that support helped her. Riott said that — while she doesn’t know what she’ll be called or where she’ll end up — her time in pro wrestling is far from over.
Riott’s full post is available below:
Well… here it goes.
I’ve never been good at this sort of stuff. Yesterday in a matter of minutes, my life changed very drastically. But after some tears, some panic and a full box of Oreos, I was able look back at how lucky I’ve been to accomplish what have. I never thought I’d make it to WWE. I’ve been honored to be apart of a Squad of the most incredible women I’ve ever met, I’ve gotten to see the world, share locker rooms with some of the most talented women I know, some of which I’ve made lifelong friendships with. I’ve gotten to meet fans that were just like me, introverted kids, who never quite felt like they fit in. And between the locker room and those fans, I felt like I belonged and I’m so grateful for that feeling. With that, I am overwhelmed by the amount of calls/texts/tweets and support that I have received from former coworkers, friends, family and fans. Thank you so much for the kind words. You’ll never know how much it helped. As for what’s next….in the beginning ‘Heidi Lovelace’ was given to me, at the end ‘Ruby Riott’ was taken away. So I don’t know what I’ll be called or where I’ll end up. But please know this is far from over. Thank you.
In Riott’s final match for WWE, Riott & Liv Morgan lost to WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Natalya & Tamina in a non-title match on SmackDown last Friday. Morgan tweeted following Riott’s release: “Whoever is lucky enough to get Heidi Lovelace on their roster, you win.”
WWE announced on Wednesday that Riott, Braun Strowman, Lana, Aleister Black, Buddy Murphy, and Santana Garrett had been released from the company. Budget cuts were the reason given for the releases.
New entrants have been added to this year’s Royal Rumble matches.
On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, it was announced that Intercontinental Champion Big E, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, and SmackDown Tag Team Champion Dolph Ziggler will be taking part in this year’s men’s Royal Rumble match. Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Tamina were also added to the list of entrants for the women’s Royal Rumble match.
The men’s Royal Rumble match now has 13 announced entrants. There have been 12 entrants announced for the women’s Royal Rumble match.
The Royal Rumble is taking place on Sunday, January 31. Here’s the updated list of entrants for the men’s and women’s Royal Rumble matches:
WWE also announced overnight that Erik of The Viking Raiders has signed with Raw as a free agent and Tamina, Billie Kay, and Zelina Vega have signed with SmackDown.
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After tonight’s Raw went off the air, an additional round of draft picks was announced on Raw Talk.
Lana, Riddick Moss, and Arturo Ruas were selected by Raw in the last round of the draft. Natalya and The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan) were selected by SmackDown.
Lana won a dual-brand number one contender’s battle royal in the main event of Raw tonight and will challenge Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship on Raw’s season premiere episode next Monday. Natalya said she was done with Lana earlier in tonight’s show and appeared to have the battle royal won, but Lana returned and eliminated Natalya to get the win. Lana had been put through a table by Nia Jax during the battle royal but was never eliminated.
Andrade, Erik of The Viking Raiders, Billie Kay, Tamina, and Zelina Vega were in the night two draft pool but weren’t picked tonight. Mickie James hasn’t been drafted from the night one draft pool. Shorty G and Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado also weren’t originally drafted from the night one draft pool, but it was announced prior to Raw today that Shorty G has been selected by SmackDown and Metalik & Dorado have been selected by Raw.
Andrade and Vega were laid out by stereo Sister Abigails from “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss on tonight’s Raw. Wyatt and Bliss were both selected by Raw in the draft.
The updated rosters for Raw and SmackDown following this year’s draft are listed below:
Raw —
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre
Raw Women’s Champion Asuka
The Hurt Business (MVP, United States Champion Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander)
AJ Styles
Naomi
Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
Ricochet
Mandy Rose
The Miz & John Morrison
Raw Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods
The Women’s Tag Team title match that was originally scheduled for Clash of Champions has been rebooked for tonight’s episode of Raw.
WWE has announced that Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax will defend their titles against Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan on Raw tonight. The match was supposed to take place at Clash of Champions on September 27 but was pulled from the card. WWE announced that Baszler & Jax weren’t cleared to compete.
Dave Meltzer reported last week that Baszler & Jax did not test positive for COVID-19 but both were in contact with someone who did test positive.
Jax tweeted last night that she and Baszler would be returning on Raw: “Guess who is going to be on #RAW tomorrow night, kicking some ASH, retaining some titles, with a fresh weave and looking DAMN GOOD! I’ll give you a hint…NOT my tag partner. I mean, she will be there, but she won’t have a fresh weave.”
Baszler & Jax became the Women’s Tag Team Champions by defeating Bayley & Sasha Banks at Payback this August. Riott & Morgan were set up as their Clash of Champions challengers by defeating Peyton Royce & Billie Kay in a number one contender’s match.
Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke defeated Natalya & Lana on Raw last week and did an interview later in the show saying they’re coming for the Women’s Tag Team titles after Riott & Morgan get their title shot.
A six-man tag match with Drew McIntyre & The Street Profits facing Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode has also been announced for tonight’s Raw. Plus, WWE is hyping that Kevin Owens has invited Bray Wyatt to Raw tonight to appear on a KO Show segment. Owens will face The Fiend on SmackDown this Friday.
Prior to tonight’s Raw, WWE gave an update on the situation with the Women’s Tag Team titles.
Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax were supposed to defend their titles against Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan at Sunday’s Clash of Champions pay-per-view, but that match didn’t happen due to Baszler & Jax being pulled from the show. WWE posted a video tonight with Kayla Braxton announcing that Baszler & Jax will still defend their titles against Riott & Morgan once they’re cleared to do so.
Dave Meltzer reported that Baszler & Jax did not test positive for COVID-19 but both were in contact with someone who did test positive so they will not be used for 14 days as long as they test negative.
On Twitter today, Jax responded to someone who asked if she’s okay: “Girl….I could not be better I apologize that the announcement scared some, but all is great and healthy on my end & my tag partner’s end as well (not that I speak for her, but I kind of just did).”
Baszler & Jax won the Women’s Tag Team titles by defeating Bayley & Sasha Banks at Payback last month. Riott & Morgan then became the number one contenders to the titles by defeating Peyton Royce & Billie Kay.
On the Clash of Champions pre-show, WWE announced how they’re handling the situation with two scheduled matches being off tonight’s card.
WWE announced on the pre-show that Nikki Cross, Shayna Baszler, and Nia Jax aren’t medically cleared to compete at Clash of Champions. Bayley was scheduled to defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Nikki Cross at tonight’s pay-per-view. Baszler & Jax were supposed to defend their Women’s Tag Team titles against Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan.
It was said that Bayley is in the building and will still appear at Clash of Champions. WWE.com wrote that Bayley will “address the SmackDown Women’s Championship situation tonight on WWE Clash of Champions with her opponent unable to compete.”
WWE also noted that the situation surrounding the Women’s Tag Team titles will be addressed on tomorrow night’s episode of Raw.
Asuka’s Raw Women’s Championship defense against Zelina Vega was originally supposed to be tonight’s pre-show match, but that’s been moved to the main card. Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The Lucha House Party for the SmackDown Tag Team titles is now taking place on the pre-show.
WWE announced on the Clash of Champions pre-show that Nikki Cross, Shayna Baszler, and Nia Jax aren’t medically cleared to compete at tonight’s PPV.
It was said that the status of the Women’s Tag Team title match will be addressed on tomorrow’s Raw. Bayley is in the building and will address the status of her match on tonight’s PPV.
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Two matches scheduled for tonight’s Clash of Champions pay-per-view won’t be taking place as originally planned.
Dave Meltzer has confirmed that Nikki Cross is off Clash of Champions. She was scheduled to challenge Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Championship tonight. Additionally, Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax are off tonight’s pay-per-view. John Pollock of Post Wrestling first reported that the WWE Women’s Tag Team title match between champions Jax & Baszler against Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan would not be taking place.
Meltzer mentioned that it is possible that Bayley may defend the SmackDown Women’s title tonight against someone else, but with both Jax and Baszler off, there won’t be a Women’s Tag Team title match.
Cross did not appear on Friday’s SmackDown show. She defeated Tamina, Lacey Evans, and Alexa Bliss in a fatal four-way match to become the number one contender on the September 11 edition of SmackDown.
The Riott Squad had defeated The IIconics to become the next challengers for the Women’s Tag Team titles. Due to the stipulations of that match, Peyton Royce & Billie Kay had to break up as a tag team.
Peyton Royce and Billie Kay lost tonight to The Riott Squad tonight on Raw after Billie Kay was pinned following a pinfall counter by Ruby Riott. Per the stipulations of the match, The Riott Squad will now receive a shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles. But the IIconics, as a result of losing, will now have to split up.
It was reported on the August 10, 2020 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that during a recent backstage meeting, Vince McMahon saw Peyton Royce and Bianca Belair as potential stars.
The IIconics started to team together in 2016 on NXT. The two were called up as a team the day following WrestleMania 34 under the name The IIconics. The following year, the two were part of a Elimination Chamber match that would determine the first WWE Women’s Tag Team champions. That match was won by Bayley and Sasha Banks. The duo would later win the titles at WrestleMania 35.
After spending most of 2020 off of WWE television, The IIconics resurfaced in May and had spent the summer feuding with both Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott, which eventually led to the reformation of the Riott Squad.
The next chapter in the heated rivalry between The Riott Squad and The IIconics will be written when they clash during the WWE Payback Kickoff show, tomorrow night at 6 ET/3 PT.
Ruby Riott found herself on the receiving end of mockery from Peyton Royce & Billie Kay in recent weeks, with the Australian duo claiming Riott had no friends. But after apologizing to her estranged partner Liv Morgan, The Riott Squad was back in action and the odds evened against The IIconics. But in several bouts pitting members of the two teams against each other, it seemed as though Riott and Morgan needed to get back on the same page, while The IIconics often had the last laugh.
Will The Riott Squad be able to shut The IIconics up, or will Billie Kay & Peyton Royce be laughing once again? Find out during the WWE Payback Kickoff, streaming tomorrow night at 6 ET/3 PT on the award-winning WWE Network, WWE.com, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and TikTok!
Riott & Morgan most recently faced off with The IIconics as part of a six-woman tag match on Raw this week. Bianca Belair, Riott & Morgan defeated Zelina Vega & The IIconics in that match. After Riott & Morgan took out The IIconics, Belair hit the KOD on Vega to get the win.
Here’s the updated card for Payback:
Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt defending against Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns in a no holds barred triple threat match
Keith Lee vs. Randy Orton
Women’s Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks & Bayley defending against Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
United States Champion Apollo Crews defending against Bobby Lashley
Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins & Murphy
Matt Riddle vs. Baron Corbin
Big E vs. Sheamus
Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan vs. The IIconics (pre-show)
Main Event returned with members of the Performance Center to make up the crowd, which made for a much better show. Bianca Belair and Ruby Riott had a fine opener as Belair remains undefeated since being called up to the main roster. Shelton Benjamin and Akira Tozawa worked beautifully together and had an excellent six-minute match in the main event.
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Bianca Belair defeated Ruby Riott (5:45)
This was a rematch for Belair and Riott, who faced off two weeks ago on Main Event. Belair is now 4-0 since joining the Raw roster and ought to be given some TV time as there is simply no doubt that she is ready. She dominated Riott here and has a varied moveset that makes her an exciting prospect.
At the finish, Riott grabbed a near fall and went up to the top rope, but Belair caught her and hit a modified Glam Slam on to the top turnbuckle. After news that emerged this weekend, that move may no longer be allowed.
Belair then hit the KOD for the win. This was good, but not quite as good as their last outing a couple of weeks back on Main Event. Belair is such a huge talent and should be rubbing shoulders with the top talent on Raw or SmackDown.
Shelton Benjamin defeated Akira Tozawa (6:06)
Jim Ross noted on Grilling JR with Conrad Thompson this week that Shelton Benjamin was the “finest pure athlete” that he ever signed when he was head of talent relations. For sure, watching him on Main Event over the last few months has been a pleasure.
Benjamin and Tozawa worked so well together here. Tozawa is fantastic at selling and, with Benjamin in tow, knows exactly when to speed up or slow down to build the tension. They went back and forth and produced such a wonderfully paced match here.
In the last minutes, Benjamin locked on the Angle Lock and it looked every bit that Tozawa would tap. Instead, he rolled through and snatched a near fall before super kicking Benjamin. He climbed up top, selling his ankle so that Benjamin had time to get to his feet.
Benjamin climbed up and launched Tozawa off the top rope with a belly-to-belly suplex and then finished him with his old finisher, the Paydirt.
Final Thoughts —
A good show, but there’s an argument that all four of these performers should be being used more. Admittedly, Belair probably has plenty of time to get to where she needs to be. Benjamin, however, is being cruelly underused at this stage in his career – he has so much more to give.
Jinder Mahal beat up Main Event debutante Denzel Dejournette for just over six minutes in a fairly dull opener. Bianca Belair and Ruby Riott then had a very good match at the end of the show, with Belair taking her Main Event record to 2-0 with the win.
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Jinder Mahal defeated Denzel Dejournette (6:21)
Dejournette has been awarded a few TV opportunities lately, with appearances on both Raw and SmackDown. He comes with an impressive amateur background and good write-ups since joining the Performance Center in 2018.
The future certainly looks bright for Dejournette, who in the past two months has worked TVs with Seth Rollins, Sheamus, and Bobby Lashley, while Keith Lee has spoken about how excited he has been about Dejournette’s development.
As you’d expect, Mahal dictated things here and the match under his lead got a little repetitive and slow. MVP put him over on commentary saying, “we know that Mahal could have finished this some time ago, but what he’s doing is punishing Dejournette.”
Dejournette got some hope with a belly-to-back suplex and a Stinger splash to the corner, but Mahal quickly finished things after that. Mahal pinned him with the Khallas.
Dejournette looks good and hopefully will get some opportunities to be something other than cannon fodder over the coming months.
Bianca Belair defeated Ruby Riott (7:33)
Once again, you can’t help but be impressed by Bianca Belair. She and Ruby Riott packed a ton into this match, telling a story and going back and forth with very little let up.
The only issue with Belair is that she’s so accomplished and graceful that some of her moves look too nice and so it’s hard to suspend your disbelieve that they might actually hurt. A case in point is her standing moonsault that she hit on Riott here. It is so perfect and safe that Riott won’t have felt a thing.
They brawled outside the ring, but the story was Riott trying to tip the odds in her favor by working over Belair’s left arm. Belair sold it well and Riott was creative in her methods.
By the end, Riott’s nose was bloodied and was teetering on the edge. She went up to the top rope but was punched off it. Belair hooked her on her shoulders for the KOD and, with the win, remains undefeated on Main Event.
Final Thoughts —
A decent show again this week, but Jinder Mahal was an unwelcome addition. It would be far better for the likes of Denzel Dejournette to get a opportunities to show off what they can do, rather than how much they can sell.
Belair and Riott’s match was very good as Belair continues to show what she’s made of.
The qualifying matches that have been announced for tonight’s show are all for the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match. The qualifiers are: Asuka vs. Ruby Riott, Kairi Sane vs. Nia Jax, and Shayna Baszler vs. Sarah Logan.
Baszler unsuccessfully challenged for Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 36, but WWE has made it clear that their feud isn’t over.
Asuka & Sane lost the Women’s Tag Team titles to Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross at WrestleMania. Bliss & Cross also defeated Asuka & Sane in a WrestleMania rematch on SmackDown last Friday.
Asuka defeated Liv Morgan in a singles match on last Monday’s Raw.
After a year away from the ring due to undergoing surgery to repair both of her ACLs, Jax returned to action by decisively defeating Deonna Purrazzo on Raw last week.
Money in the Bank is set for Sunday, May 10. Two qualifying matches have also been announced for this Friday’s SmackDown. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro will determine one of the participants for the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match, while qualifiers for the women’s ladder match will continue with Naomi vs. Dana Brooke.
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre will kick off tonight’s Raw. An appearance by Becky Lynch is also advertised for the show.
