WWE surprised me two events in a row. I never expected Rhea Ripley to lose her championship before WrestleMania. I certainly didn’t expect it to come on an episode of Raw. And definitely not the week before Raw is in Madison Square Garden. And yet, here we are.

Fantastic match aside, if someone booked Rhea losing, this was certainly the way to do it. For starters, it’s against someone she’s never beaten. Not on Raw, not on SmackDown. not in NXT, not in a game of chance, or even hide and seek. I’m sure she’s beaten her in someone’s video game but that doesn’t count for our purposes here. Rhea went into this match confident of a different outcome because she’s a vastly superior wrestler now than at any time these two faced off before. That was strike one.

Strike two came before Raw even set up shop in Buffalo, NY. At Elimination Chamber, Rhea made her way to the ring after Bianca Belair won the women’s elimination chamber. She made it clear that she was already looking at April when March just started. She took her opponent for granted when she made Bianca’s moment hers.

And finally, strike three happened during the match, but continued the thread from strike two. Bianca sat ringside during the bout for a little scout work. When the action tumbled outside, Rhea took issue with Bianca cheering on Rhea. So much so that she ignored her very dangerous opponent to get in Bianca’s face. It’s weird that Rhea got so in her feelings about Bianca possibly wanting to face IYO because she “feared” Rhea. Not weird from a writing standpoint just weird as a character quirk. Rhea’s never behaved like that. Maybe it has more to do with her feelings about Bianca? Hopefully so. Either way, Rhea sealed her fate the second she put hands on Bianca.

Now, I’m sure some may quibble or throw stones at the ref not DQ’ing IYO when Bianca retaliated. I get that and I hear that. It’s weird when wrestling plays fast and loose with the rules under the whole “referee’s discretion” thing. It’s like that contrived moment in a script that only happens because it has to happen, not because it feels like a natural progression. But I let it slide because I liken it to how NBA refs call a regular season game vs. how they call a playoff game. There’s a championship on the line here and Jessica Carr saw everything pop off between those two, including Rhea’s initial shove. No harm no foul in my eyes, but that’s just one man’s opinion.

Rhea became consumed with Bianca, which explains the video a few inches above this paragraph. She gave IYO way too much time to recover while she taunted Bianca. Even when the match ended, Rhea had more static for The EST. She called her a word I shan’t repeat but it rhymes with “witch.” Rhea committed all those mistakes and mostly blamed Bianca for the loss. Sounds like Drew McIntyre is rubbing off on her, but she did at least call herself stupid for making a mistake.

Where does that leave us for WrestleMania? I’m not sure. There’s no way Rhea isn’t on the card, and they laid a lot of ground for something between her and Bianca. And IYO clearly earned her spot so there’s that. My guess is they find some way to make this a triple threat. I’m just not entirely sure how at the moment. I’d be fine with IYO vs. Bianca one-on-one, but I understand Rhea is great for business.

Congrats to IYO! She was the other half of an incredible main event and earned every pound of that championship belt. I just hope she doesn’t become a fourth wheel in whatever happens on the next stop on the road to WrestleMania.

B-Sides

Fighting

Besides the title fitting this segment to a tee, this is also just an excuse to shoutout this Goodie Mob joint. Now, onto business.

I really don’t know what I can say that will be better than just showing what happened. So let’s start there:

Then this:

Which led to him getting to Seth Rollins and then this:

On sight, as the kids say.

And it just kept gong:

And finally, a resolution:

I love this version of both men. Punk was on fire with that mic in his hand, and Seth does righteous fury like few can. This was my favorite opening for Raw in quite some time. The show never hit that level again but it wasn’t lesser as a result. Just speaks to how much emotion exists between these two and how well the territory harnesses it.

Will next week’s cage match truly settle it? I’m not convinced. Which means there’s another twist coming and I can’t wait to see it.

Rarities

• Lyra Valkyria successfully defended her Intercontinental championship against one Ivy Nile. I enjoyed this match for the most part. It involved a lot of mat wrestling, clearly had high stakes, and threw in some psychology for good measure. That’s the part that tripped me up. Ivy whipped Lyra’s knee early in the match, which paid dividends later when that knee buckled. Ivy kept on it, too. My favorite moment came when she put the champ in a sit down powerbomb, stacked her for the pin, and put all her body weight on that injured knee. That was such a smart touch. But it all went away during the finish. Lyra dodged Ivy’s corner turnbuckle attack and then utilized a back-to-back backbreaker on her opponent. The move only worked because Lyra dropped to both knees with a lot of impact. But the knee that Lyra favored so much suddenly felt fine. She no sold the landing and then hit her finisher for the win. I would’ve appreciated if she sold the injury and the announce team chalked it up to instinct. That’s a pretty big detail considering how much the match focused on her bum knee. Alas. That said, Chad Gable’s reaction to this loss interests me greatly.
• Ditto for the Brothers Creed. They lost their second tag team championship match to the War Raiders. It was a dope tag match between two powerhouse teams. But the challengers didn’t get it done, even after telling Chad to watch how they do this for him. Yeah, well, let’s hope he didn’t watch the whole thing.
• So, I get the role Otis is playing in this whole thing between GUNTHER and Jey Uso, but I don’t understand why. Does Jey really need to play hero against a bully? Do we need more reminders that GUNTHER is a bully? And now we’re throwing in A Town Down Under for what I can only assume are basketball reasons. Why? Listen, through no fault of any talent involved, this championship match featuring one of, if not the most over guy on the roster now feels like an afterthought. Throwing in all these desperate elements only furthers that sentiment. That said, the visual of him walking out of the arena shirtless into freaking Buffalo during winter was dope. That it came after a promo where he talked about people doubting him and hinted at some personal issues made it work even more. Jey is at his best when that passion is real; this was real. God, I do hope he ran into a hot bus or someone had a heated blanket for him.
• Bron Breakker, once again, embarrassed the Judgment Day. I love Bron being Bron.

This was a lot of set up for next week’s big MSG show. We still got some developments and some follow-up on Elimination Chamber, but it’s clear why some of those bigger issues went unresolved. IYO is the new champion and this night belonged to her. Oh, and about a million recaps of John Cena’s heel turn. This is all priming the pump for what I hope will be something special next week. Again, I hope.

As it relates to this week, this was a pretty damn satisfying episode.

What say you, Cagesiders? Do you want IYO vs. Bianca or a triple threat with Rhea included?