Monday Night Raw – July 16th 2018
To start Raw's second hour, Kurt Angle came out to the ring. After taking delight in being informed that he sucked, he hyped up what a great event the previous night's Extreme Rules had been. He briefly ran through some of the highlights before arriving at the subject he was there to discuss.
"We also saw a thrilling encounter between Becky Lynch and The Arm Collector, Rowdy Ronda Rousey. Albeit with some outside interference, Ronda won the armbar match and added Becky's arm to her collection."
"Zelina Vega said it was going to happen and it happened," Cole admitted over boos from the crowd.
"That's three arms claimed by Rousey so far," Clementine said. "Stephanie McMahon, Bayley and Becky Lynch have all suffered from that devastating armbar."
"Speaking of which, I have a medical update for you on Becky Lynch," Kurt went on. "After the match, Becky reported pain in her elbow. She was given treatment and the elbow was iced overnight, so that she could have a scan this morning to look at the damage. The news is better than it might have been, probably because Becky tapped out so quickly, with self-preservation in mind. It was a smart decision, because she escaped with only minor ligament damage. I've been told Becky will back in action in a couple of weeks."
A mild cheer greeted the positive news as Coach said, "That's good to hear."
"Knowing Becky like I do," Kurt said, "I expect her to come back and go right back after Ronda. She'll consider their business to be unfinished after the way the match ended with Zelina Vega's involvement, which is why..."
The intro of Ember Moon's music interrupted Angle, drawing a loud cheer from the fans. Attacking Ronda and preventing her from cashing-in her Money in the Bank had increased her standing with the fans, and she had been popular even before then.
"Here comes Ember Moon, the woman who saved Nia Jax's Raw Women's Championship last night by stopping Ronda Rousey from cashing-in the Money in the Bank contract," Cole said.
"But why? That's my question," Clementine said as Moon entered the arena to another generous reaction. "Why did Ember help Nia Jax? Did Ember even do it to help Nia, or did she just want to attack Ronda? There are a lot of questions, hopefully we're about to get some answers."
Ember made her way to the ring and fetched a microphone for herself. "Kurt," she said as her music faded. "I'm as happy to hear that Becky isn't badly hurt as everyone else, but, to be honest, there's something more important on my mind. You see, since she aligned herself with Zelina Vega, Ronda Rousey has attacked and injured Bayley, cheated to win the Money in the Bank ladder match, and cheated to beat Becky Lynch. The so-called baddest woman on the planet has been acting like nothing more than a cheat and a coward, and by the time I saw her going out to the ring to cash-in on Nia Jax, I'd had enough. I didn't do what I did last night to help Nia Jax, I did it because I want Ronda Rousey."
The fans cheered the bold statement, while Angle was shown with a surprised look on his face. "You want Ronda Rousey?" he asked, wanting to be sure that he had heard correctly.
"I want Rousey," Ember confirmed assertively. "You think I'm scared of her? I'm not. She wants to try and add my arm to her collection? Let her come and try, because she'll find out what it's like to go into battle with The War Goddess."
Before Kurt could respond, Bad Reputation began to play. The music was greeted by the most heated reaction Ronda had received since her heel turn; good news for all involved.
"Here we go!" Clementine exclaimed loudly. "The Arm Collector has heard enough!"
Ronda and Zelina came storming out onto the stage, this time with Ronda in the lead. She looked ready to tear Ember apart for costing her what appeared to have been a guaranteed victory for the Raw Women's Championship.
"Look at Ronda's face!" Clementine shouted, hyping up the impending confrontation. "Ember said she wanted Rousey, and she's going to get her right now!"
"Maybe Ember should have been careful what she wished for?" Coach said.
Ronda quickly reached the ring and rolled under the bottom rope, only to find Angle standing in the way, preventing her from getting to Ember.
"Stop! Ronda, stop!" Kurt ordered. She tried to barge past him and Ember also tried to get at Ronda. He was having a hard time keeping them apart so he said, "If you want a shot at the Raw Women's Championship, you'd better listen to what I have to say, both of you."
Hearing mention of the title was enough for Zelina to step in and encourage Ronda to back off. Ember also took a step back, but both Rousey and Moon were still glaring holes in each other.
"That's better," Kurt said with some relief. "Just cool off a bit, both of you."
Zelina had walked over and took a microphone. As soon as she received it, she butted in on the General Manager. "No, you cool off," she snapped, being immediately booed for it. "We've heard enough from you, now you're going to listen to me. My client, The Arm Collector, Rowdy Ronda Rousey, defeated Becky Lynch last night at Extreme Rules, adding a third arm to her already impressive collection."
"With a bit of help from Vega," Coach chipped in.
"And then, in what should have been the perfect end to our night, I decided it was time to cash-in this," Zelina said, holding up the briefcase that was, as always, in her possession. "Ronda was all set to become the Raw Women's Champion, until you, Ember Moon, stuck your nose where it didn't belong. You say you want Ronda Rousey? Well I've got good, or actually, bad news for you because Ronda Rousey wants you, and she's prepared to wrestle on Monday Night Raw for the first time to get what she wants!" Even though Ronda was a heel, the announcement brought a cheer of approval.
"I think that was more than obvious just by looking at Ronda's face," Cole said.
Ember started firing back at Zelina, who simultaneously shouted back at her, both using their microphones. For a few moments, their angry shouting filled the arena, none of the words particularly distinguishable.
"Enough!" Kurt yelled after a moment. "Enough from all of you! It seems there are a lot of people wanting to get their hands on each other around here, and we're going to need a number one contender for the Raw Women's Championship for Summerslam, so here's what we're going to do. I've been told Becky Lynch will be fit to return to action in two weeks, therefore, two weeks from tonight we will see a six woman tag team match. The woman who gets the win for her team in that match will become the number one contender."
"That's a crazy idea!" Clementine exclaimed. "We'll have women teaming with each other, but with their own self-interests also in mind. They won't care about winning for their team, they'll only be wanting to win to get themselves the title shot."
"On one team," Kurt said, "we will see Ember Moon and the returning Becky Lynch, and their partner, who will also be making a return from injury… Bayley!"
"Woah!" Cole exclaimed over a loud pop from the crowd. The goal of having Bayley sit out a couple of months had been to get the audience back behind her as a babyface. It appeared to have worked.
"Bayley is coming back! Listen to this place!" Clementine cried, overshadowing her colleague once more with her reaction.
"That's quite a team," Coach added.
In the ring, Ronda and Zelina looked angered by what they were hearing, knowing that all three of those ladies would be keen to go after Ronda specifically, regardless of who she was given as partners.
Kurt said, "And on the other team we will see, as Zelina Vega just said, Ronda Rousey competing for the first time ever on Monday Night Raw. As for the rest of your team, Ronda? Frankly, I don't think you have any friends around here, so I'm going to leave it to your esteemed manager here to try and find two people who are willing to team with you. If she fails, then you'll compete in a three on one handicap match."
"That's not fair at all," Clementine objected while Zelina was shown making a face like she had just been chewing a mouthful of wasps.
"How is it not fair?" Coach asked. "If Vega is as good a manager as she likes to make out, she'll be able to easily find partners for her client."
"Fine," Zelina hissed at Kurt. "I'll find two people to team with Ronda in two weeks. And when I do, whether it's Ember Moon having her arm taken, or whether Becky Lynch or Bayley become the first woman to have their arm taken twice by The Arm Collector, someone will get their arm broken. And when they do, Kurt, that's going to be on you. Meanwhile, Ronda Rousey will go on to Summerslam, where she will become the first Money in the Bank holder ever to win the championship without even needing to cash-in the briefcase."
With the fans booing, Zelina dropped her microphone to the canvas and led Ronda from the ring, leaving Ember looking fired up for the encounter she had just learned she was going to be a part of.
"Who's going to Summerslam to compete for the Raw Women's Championship?" Clementine asked. "We're going to find out in two weeks."
The commentators continued to hype up the six woman match as the segment came to an end.
Later in the show, in a backstage segment, Ruby Riott had challenged Nia Jax to another match for the Raw Women's Championship. After Nia had pointed out that she had already beaten Ruby clean at Extreme Rules, Ruby had raised the stakes, suggesting a stipulation that if she lost again, she would dissolve the Riott Squad. Nia had accepted that challenge, and the title match had been set for the main event of the night.
Much to the surprise of the fans in the live audience in the arena and the viewers at home, Ruby Riott had gone on to win the match and become the new Raw Women's Champion. Even as a heel, her win had produced quite the positive reaction among the fan base. Putting the title on her was apparently a popular booking decision.
Liked by many of her colleagues, Ruby had walked into the locker room to a warm round of applause after Raw had gone off air. In turn, several of the women stepped forward to offer further congratulations. Ronda was one of them. She offered a hug, which Ruby accepted, still holding her newly-won belt over her shoulder.
"It looks good on you, girl," Ronda said with a smile. "Congratulations. You did a great job out there."
"Thanks, Ronda. Who knows, maybe we'll get to wrestle for it at some point? I'd like that. But no cashing-in, okay?"
Ronda grinned. "No promises. But I'd like to wrestle you, too. It might even happen at Summerslam, depending on who they have go over in the six woman match. Hell, I don't even know who's going to be on my team yet!"
Before moving on to the next person wanting to congratulate her, Ruby smiled and said, "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."
A/N: Many thanks to everyone who voted on the poll to decide the two women who will represent Smackdown at the upcoming charity golf event. The winners were Sonya Deville and Charlotte Flair, so we'll be seeing them take on Ronda and Clementine.
We learned that we're going to have a six woman tag team match featuring the team of Ember, Becky and Bayley taking on Ronda and two other women, assuming Zelina can find partners for her. The prediction question this time is who will those partners be, if she finds any? Leave names in a review if you think there will be partners, or maybe you'll predict no partners, thinking that we'll end up seeing a three on one handicap match. Let's see who can call correctly! As always, shout outs are on offer for correct predictions.