On Monday night at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California, Rhea Ripley defeated Liv Morgan to claim the Women’s World Championship belt.
Morgan tried every trick in the book to win her match over Ripley, including her partners Dominik Mysterio and Raquel Rodriguez attempting multiple times to throw Ripley off, including grabbing her boot while trying to enter the ring.
This time, it didn’t work.
The match got off to a fast-paced start as Ripley used her size to get a brief advantage over Morgan, who slammed her into the announcer’s table early on. The Women’s Championship holder was able to flip the momentum the other way, stomping on Ripley in the corner. As Ripley tried to break out from the assault, Morgan hit her with a counter Backstabber.
Ripley then regained the momentum by hitting Morgan with a Riptide, but Morgan managed to make a last-second kick-out. Mysterio then proved a nuisance once again, providing a distraction for Morgan to hit her with an Oblivion that Ripley managed to kick out of. Morgan, echoing Guerrero, then hit Ripley with Three Amigos suplexes. Ripley managed to counter yet another Oblivion attempt before unleashing successive Riptides against Morgan, which was ultimately enough to put her down and claim the title.
Immediately after the match, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio went into the ring to attempt to get a hug from Ripley. She seemingly accepted the outreach, before suddenly kicking him in the groin area and triumphantly paraded off-stage with her belt, surely closing the door on her feud with Morgan.
Just a few moments later, WWE Hall of Famer Undertaker came out on his motorcycle, riding a circle around the ring before joining Ripley in her celebrations — an endorsement of the Women’s World champion.
“Honestly, I thought kicking Dom in the nuts was gonna be the highlight, and then ‘Taker came out and honestly, it’s such a special moment,” said Ripley in her post-show press conference.
“I’ve been able to be in the ring with people that I watched growing up.. the greats. I’ve been able to go out there while I was part of Judgement Day and step in the ring with people who I thought I’d never step in the ring with.”
“But now, winning my baby back the Women’s World Championship, and having the Dead Man come out and hearing the gong in real life, it was absolutely insane. It was a moment that I am never going to forget.”
RAW’s debut on Netflix went without a hitch, despite earlier concerns that there could be streaming issues similar to their previous live-stream sporting event, Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul. WWE and Netflix secured a 10-year deal worth approximately $5 billion, and it marks the first time in 30 years that RAW is not airing on a linear broadcast network.
