WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Rhea Ripley retains women’s world title as Nia Jax makes shocking return

After being cheated out of her shot at Rhea Ripley and the WWE women’s world championship thanks to Domink Mysterio’s interference at Payback, Raquel Rodriguez had her rematch opportunity on Monday night’s edition of Raw. Mysterio was banned from ringside for the match, but it was still outside interference that determined the outcome of the title bout.

Rodriguez appeared firmly in control of the match, but a shocking return by Nia Jax cost her in the end. Jax quickly made clear that her return had nothing to do with Judgment Day, closing the show with an attack on Ripley that may set up the champion’s next rivalry.

CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia.

Nia Jax returns as Rhea Ripley retains women’s world championship

Early in the show, Raquel Rodriguez was interviewed backstage about her women’s world title rematch with Rhea Ripley. Rodriguez said that, unlike other women, she is not beaten by Ripley before she steps in the ring. Rodriguez promised to give the champion a taste of her own medicine in the main event.

WWE Women’s World Championship — Rhea Ripley def. Raquel Rodriguez via pinfall after hitting a Riptide. Rodriguez was largely in charge of the action for the duration of the match, hitting Ripley with all variety of power moves. Late in the match, with the referee distracted, Nia Jax made her WWE return, dropping Rodriguez with a Samoan drop outside the ring. This allowed Ripley to get the finish and retain her championship. Despite the purple on Jax’s ring gear, she was not there as a member of Judgment Day, immediately attacking Ripley after the match, thrashing Ripley before hitting a Bonzai Drop to end the show.

I’m not sure that anyone was dying for Jax to return given a lot of things about her personality — and her tendency to legitimately hurt opponents. But if WWE was just looking to cash in on a surprise, it’s hard to say they didn’t do exactly that. Jax had only appeared once in WWE since September 2021, appearing as a surprise Royal Rumble entrant in January and not showing up in WWE again. Rodriguez and Ripley don’t have great chemistry together, but sometimes that happens when you try to run matches that hinge on power vs. power. It also feels like Rodriguez immediately moves out of the title picture in favor of the returning Jax. We’ll see how that goes. Grade: B-

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