Cattie’s Catch Up – Week Beginning May 15th 2023 (May 21st 2023)
Hello all, and welcome to a somewhat late catch up post, as we delve a little late into womens wrestling events of the past week WWE and IMPACT wise. The time to Night of Champions is narrowing, and Becky Lynch kicked off the week with a massive challenge. Speaking of challenges, one is about to be revisited as another match got announced for the said event. However, other titles wise, we got some bad news (again) regarding the Womens Tag Team Championships, as the week came to a close with injury related news. Over on IMPACT as well, it was a more glowing outlook with a big in ring debut…
WWE RAW
Initially RAW was scheduled to have Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez defend the Womens Tag Team Titles against Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville, who had been clamoring for another shot for a while. However, with Liv out with an injury (thats turned out worser) Liv would be unavailable, and Chelsea and Sonya would protest over their shot in the office of Adam Pearce. Adam becomes quickly sick of the arguing and makes it clear that as much as they want to face Raquel and Liv for the titles, Liv is not medically cleared, therefore it cannot happen. Sonya argues over Raquel and Liv forfeiting the titles due to the situation, adding that she and Chelsea should get the titles by default, but Adam does not agree, and an incensed Raquel isnt listening to it any longer. Raquel is, however, open to defending Liv’s honor, challenging Chelsea to a match. Adam is swift to make it official.
There is later a battle royal to determine a contender to Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship. Otis, Erik and Ivar are amongst those in the match, with Maxxine Dupri and Valhalla in their corners. In the end, it is Mustafa Ali who prevails in the match, last eliminating Ricochet and Bronson Reed to advance to Night of Champions as the number one contender to the championship.
Later its onto more Night of Champions build as out comes Becky Lynch for a promo, a week after her return. Upon arrival, Becky admits to needing help, and she turned to Lita and Trish. Lita was great, she won championships with her, and she got too close to Trish, who actually came back not to help her, but to help herself. But, despite that, she does want to thank Trish, not for the bollocks reasons she gave, but because she has turned on a light that had been off for many months, and because with her insults towards her daughter, shes given the badness in her head a face, a name and a target. Trish was number one in the business, and wants to again, but Becky is IT, has done IT, made IT, dont need a championship to prove IT, and will be IT until she says IT is over. If Trish wants it, shes got it. She will show her how thankful she is when she kicks her head in at Night of Champions.
Eyeing the situation from the back also is Smackdown Womens Champion Rhea Ripley, flanked by Cathy Kelley who interviews her. Her focus isnt on Becky, however, but ponders Rhea’s thoughts instead over Natalya being on RAW and the confrontation between Natalya and Rhea last week. Rhea warns the Queen of Harts to stay in her lane, and sure, shes made an impressive career for herself, but she does not care. Natalya walks in, and even she knows her career is impressive. This isnt about lanes, but about Rhea beating down a woman who was already beaten, in reference to Dana Brooke. She calls Rhea the most dominant woman to have held the championship, and she should have respect, but shes not going to get that with the way shes being to the women shes running through. Rhea accuses Natalya of not being there to help and protect Dana, but because by confronting her, she wanted to try and make the crowd care about herself again. If she interrupts Rhea again, she wont help to boost her career, but will end it instead. Before things can get any more tense, Dominik Mysterio emerges and departs with Rhea.
Speaking of Dominik, he has Rhea in his corner as he goes one on one with Xavier Woods. Rhea is pivotal in the ending, as an assist from the Smackdown Womens Champion leads her fellow Judgment Day stablemate to a victory.
Later on, we also have another appearance from Zoey Stark, as the recent RAW debutant brags over how great her RAW run has been, right in the face of her disgruntled looking past opponent, Nikki Cross. Cross is in a trance and Zoey clicks in her face, calling her a freak, and in enters Candice LeRae. Candice defends Nikki and demands Zoey not to talk to her that way, so Zoey verbally jabs at Candice’s family, which welcomes the idea for Candice to settle things in the ring with her instead. Zoey is confident over her chances, and tells Candice she will see her for a one on one match next week.
Then, its off to the ring, as Raquel gets her altered match with Chelsea Green, a change up from the Womens Tag Team Title Match due to Liv’s unfortunate injury. Sonya, as expected, is in Chelsea’s corner. Raquel gets the win later on with a Tejano Bomb to Chelsea.
Post Match, Raquel takes the victory celebration to the ramp, then is ambushed by two figures from behind, who happen to be the returning tandem of Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey, both of which were drafted to RAW. The two work together to take down Raquel and end up standing tall, signalling that they are coming for the Womens Tag Team Championships.
WWE NXT
Its now over to the black and gold brand, which continues on its tournament to decide a new NXT Womens Champion. Already having advanced are Tiffany Stratton and Lyra Valkyria, with Cora Jade, Fallon Henley, Roxanne Perez and Jacy Jayne left to contend in the remaining qualifiers. The night opens with Fallon vs Cora as the first qualifying match for the night, with Cora doing some damage to soften Fallon’s leg throughout, before a final DDT later gets her the win. Cora wins the match, advancing in the NXT Womens Championship tournament.
Meanwhile, Fallon’s old tag team partner Kiana James is backstage, and in a verbal spat with Chase University’s Thea Hail. She knocks down Fallon’s chances of winning in front of Thea, and adds that theres a difference between watching NXT as a superstar than as a fan. Thea rebuttles that she, the fan, watched Kiana get beat last week. Kiana insists that despite that shes in the top tier of the division, unlike Thea who she believes will never get there. Thea gets mad and, after being snubbed from the tournament, she wants to prove her place, facing her in a match tonight. She calls on Duke to approve it and an unbothered Duke approves.
Later also comes a match between the Dyad and Brutus and Julius Creed of the Creed Brothers. Ava Raine is in the corner of the Dyad, whilst Ivy supports her boys as well. Late on, Ivy gets distracted by Rip Fowler of the Dyad at ringside, and Ava uses that as a chance to try lift the female Diamond Mine member for a slam. Ivy counters that and Ava is snagged in the Diamond Chain. Fowler panics, taken out by Brutus, and in the end, Julius goes on to pin Reid to get the victory for the Creed Brothers.
Also backstage is Jacy Jayne, who is confident about her qualifier match against Roxanne Perez, demanding better questions from McKenzie once she is womens champion. When she eliminates Roxanne, she will move forward, but she did want GiGi Dolin next, but of course, she proved to everyone that shes nothing more than a failure. She failed at being a good daughter, sister and friend, and failed at trying to win the championship. But shes a winner, the complete opposite, and she will imagine her face when she kicks Roxanne’s head in and takes the next step towards becoming the new NXT Womens Champion.
Then its onto sighting upcoming tandems, as Noam Dar encounters Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson, who, after some stints on LVL Up, appear to officially be a tag team. Noam originally greets Lash, but Jakara doesnt take kindly to not being acknowledged, and gets an apology, and acknowledgement. He wonders if Lash saw Supernova Sessions, but Lash aint for it, nor any of the others that have existed on NXT, when the talk should be on the original, in reference to Lashin’ out with Lash Legend. Noam lets them leave before quietly mentioning how he must have missed that show.
Later comes the next womens match to happen on the show, as Thea Hail looks to prove her worthiness despite not being in the tournament, against Kiana James. However, the short match doesnt end in favor for the Chase University Member, as Kiana scores the finishing 401K for the victory.
Theres also a later vignette on Roxanne Perez, highlighting the former NXT Womens Champion before she goes to battle against Jacy Jayne. One year ago, she entered the womens breakout tournament, won and later became the champion. She wonders where the time go as everything happened so fast, a board once blank being filled with pictures from the last year. She doesnt know what her next year and board will look like. Its nerve wracking and exciting. She knows where she wants to go, but its about how she gets there.
Pre main event comes Roxanne Perez’s qualifier match against Jacy Jayne. Late on, Roxanne nails Pop Rox to the once Toxic Attraction Member for the three count and the victory, with Tiffany Stratton emerging after the match to stare out Roxanne like Lyra had with Cora earlier in the evening. But thats not all, as a livid GiGi Dolin emerges to batter Jacy Jayne to the point where both have to be forceably separated by numerous officials.
IMPACT Wrestling
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8l22bs
Then its off to the IMPACT Zone to discuss all events Knockouts wise from the latest IMPACT episode from Thursday. First sighted Knockouts wise is Trinity, warming up in the backstage area ahead of her in ring debut for the company, and in walks Jai Vidal to interrupt that. Jai informs Trinity that hes in a load of trouble for the photo he had taken with Trinity, but Trinity reminds him that he took the picture, not her, and she gets accused of gaslighting. Gisele saw the post but Trinity mentions that if she has a problem she can say it to her face. However, it turns out Gisele has been injured, but will be back next week, perfect for Trinity because she has an open contract for a match at Under Siege. If shes so p***ed, Jai should tell her to come to the ring to do something about it. Jai, swinging his ponytail near enough to Trinity’s face, agrees and struts out.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8l22hy
Also, after a brief video reflection of Jordynne and Deonna’s loss recently to the Coven, Gia Miller speaks backstage to Jordynne Grace. She wonders if Deonna not being 100% following the tag team bout with the Coven means Jordynne now has the advantage going into her Knockouts Championship match. Jordynne stresses how this is a last chance match for her and she has to get Deonna at her best because she wants to beat the champion at her best. She wants to be the face of the company and its division, hoping there’ll be no doubt on that when she beats Deonna. She insists their collision last week was an accident but Alisha Edwards walks in to call Jordynne’s possible bluff. She urges Jordynne to tell Gia and everyone at home that she knocked Deonna on purpose. Jordynne raises her fist to Alisha, who backs off as quick. Alisha doesnt want that fist today, and tells Jordynne to keep lying to the world in the meantime as she backs off.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8l22ro
Shortly following is the Knockouts in in ring competition, and first off its Trinity’s debut match against Knockouts Tag Team Champion, Kilynn King, who has Taylor Wilde in her corner expectedly. The lengthy match ends with Trinity re-debuting the Slaymission, now dubbed Starstruck, using the finishing submission to eventually submit Kilynn for the big debut victory.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8l22ro
Post match, to the ring comes Jai Vidal, and he carries a message on behalf of the yet to be cleared Gisele Shaw. Gisele apparently has accepted a one on one match with Trinity at Under Siege. Jai goes for a slap but Trinity has it blocked and she soon strikes back with a kick to the head that clears Jai off. Trinity versus Gisele is now official for Under Siege.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8l22ze
Jessicka, holding the hourglass trinket left for her by Rosemary, stands by the door to the Undead Realm, but yet Rosemary has still not reemerged. Taylor and Kilynn walk over, mocking the lone Jessicka who has obeyed the orders of Rosemary to not enter the Undead Realm after her. Taylor welcomes opening the door with the help of spirit, but Jessicka already knows, per Rosemary, that they dont have the magic to do that. Kilynn bites back that Rosemary isnt always right, but Jessicka has her own response. Taylor isnt right either, because if she was, her cards would’ve foreseen Kilynn losing to Trinity. This winds up Kilynn, but Taylor holds her back and corrects Jessicka, insisting that Kilynn can lose, as it only sets the groundwork for whats to come, so Jessicka should buckle up.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8l2342
Then we also have another in ring debut, as AAW’s Sierra visits for a singles match against Jody Threat. Its another enhancement match to extend Jody’s momentum, as Jody scores F-4-1-6 minutes in for the victory. Jody wins the match.
WWE Smackdown
Then back off to the WWE side of things to see what went down on the blue brand on Friday womens wise. Zelina Vega has a tough first outing since Backlash, as she takes on the current contender to the RAW Womens Championship, Asuka. Whilst the Empress of Tomorrow heads out to the ring, Zelina is interviewed in Guerrilla, and she already knows what Kayla Braxton will ask, is she ready for someone like Asuka? After the love and support she received from her people in Puerto Rico, she realised she belongs with the top dogs of the womens division, and it doesnt matter how much shes taken for granted, judged over her size or how much shes underestimated, because the moment she went toe to toe with Rhea, she showed she can hang with the best of the best. Now Asuka’s going to see that she is ready. With that statement, Zelina solely heads out to the ring to compete.
However, a few minutes in a jumping Asuka grasps Zelina in an armbreaker, and despite Zelina’s fighting spirit, shes soon tapping out to Asuka’s submission finisher, and Jessicka Carr recognises that, calling for the bell, with Asuka winning the match. Asuka stays grasped regardless of the victory being official, prompting RAW Womens Champion Bianca Belair to show up. Bianca shows care for Zelina as she checks on her condition, then dashing after Asuka to try and take her into the ring. Asuka fights her off and unleashes the mist, but not all of it gets on Bianca’s face. Bianca is fuming, but Asuka is fine with her handywork regardless.
Next womens wise we see the Angel of Doom Scarlett alongside Karrion Kross, as the pairing seem to have picked out their next target. Kross talks about how its a saying that Justice is blind, turning to his wife as he wonders if thats truly the case. He sees himself as the imminent threat to Justice, and Allen (the real first name of AJ Styles) has no idea of that. On cue, a tarot card unveiled by Scarlett sports the Phenomenal One’s face on it. Kross and Styles battle for the first time on WWE television next week.
Then we have the main roster in ring debuts of reigning NXT Womens Tag Team Champions Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre, both coming up despite their championship wielding status and sporting their titles. They are taking on Valentina Feroz and a newly cleared and returning Yulisa Leon, presumably just competing on this night and not officially called up. However, it is Valentina that takes the ending brutality, in the form of Isla and Alba’s double team finisher, with Alba covering and pinning Valentina to follow and mark a successful in ring debut. Isla and Alba win the match.
Following that, theres news on the Womens Tag Team Championships held by Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan. Worryingly, Liv is once again not present with Raquel backstage, and the championships have been vacated as Liv’s injury is presumed worse than thought. On a future episode of RAW, there will be a four way tag team match to decide the future champions, with Raquel and a mystery partner taking on Chelsea and Sonya, Ronda and Shayna and Bayley and Iyo (as Dakota is also out with a torn ACL suffered in the same match Liv got hurt in). Raquel credits Liv for pulling through despite the injury she had suffered, and recalls handing over the titles as the hardest thing shes had to do in her entire career. But she is not giving up, and Liv is not replaceable. Bayley walks in with Iyo to confirm Dakota’s also heartbreaking injury, pitting the blame on Raquel. Next week, if Raquel can find another idiot to tag with her, she and Iyo will be waiting.
WWE Main Event
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8l1gt1
WWE Main Event, the pre RAW side show, was a special one this week with a double dose of womens action. The first match saw former tag team partners Emma and Dana Brooke collide in their first outing against each other in years, Emma being the heel due to quietly turning alongside Riddick Moss. Emma’s frustrations in the end worked in favor of Dana, who surprised the mad aussie with a package pin for the sudden three count and victory. Dana wins the match.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8l1hft
Then later it was Tegan Nox’s turn at some in ring action, and with a new meaner side rarely seen on WWE television (not forgetting that one time heading into Survivor Series). Tegan isnt being the nice girl and decides she wants to beat others up and enjoy exactly that, her opponent being an also mean foe in Nikki Cross. Late in, Nikki comes back from a pinfall attempt to kick Tegan in the midsection, followed with the setup and execution of the Twisted Neckbreaker for the three count. Nikki wins the match.
WWE NXT LVL Up
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8l30ks
On NXT LVL Up, which airs following Smackdown, Kelani Jordan also got her second in ring outing since her debut, and this time, she teamed with her respectful opponent from last week, Wendy Choo, against Lola Vice and Elektra Lopez, both of which are back on as a team for this episode. Kelly Kincaid speaks with the babyfaces prior, wondering what brought them to team with one another considering Wendy was Kelani’s opponent last week, and Kelani answers that after her debut, she was getting a lot of positive feedback, and she felt so good about herself until she bumped into the mean girls, Lola and Elektra. They talked her down bad but Wendy had her back, and thats the kind of person she wants to be around. Wendy doesnt like bullies either, and shes not had a lot of friends, but she saw Kelani struggling she wasnt going to let Lola and Elektra get away with it. Kelani is about to mention how Karma is a real b****….but Wendy PG’s it for comedy.
Then its onward to the match, as out come Elektra and Lola to battle Wendy and Kelani. Like Lola and Elektra, Kelani and Wendy join in unison for their entrance, and their tandem work works favorably, as the ending moments see Kelani clear Elektra from the ring, allowing for Wendy to duck a roundhouse and lay out Lola with her finisher for the three count. Wendy and Kelani win the match.
– Catherine
Cattie's Womens Wrestling 