Welcome to another edition of WWE Recap Report — a breakdown of the biggest takeaways of the week from WWE for those who may have missed out.
Whether you need to catch up on a show, had too busy of a week to stay on top of the news or just skipped out on WWE as a whole, I’ve got you covered.
Obviously, not every single thing will be recapped here in detail. But this is your TL;DR of the week to be caught up to speed before the next Monday Night Raw so you’re not left in the dark.
With that being said, here is a quick rundown of this week in WWE.
WWE MAIN EVENT
- Shelton Benjamin defeated Curt Hawkins
- Akira Tozawa defeated Eric Young
WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW
- After Paul Heyman chastised Drew McIntyre for being a “hyped-up fraud” who got lucky eliminating Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble and wouldn’t conquer The Beast Incarnate at WrestleMania, McIntyre laid out Lesnar with a Claymore. Then, after Lesnar collected himself, McIntyre hit him with two more Claymore kicks.
- With some help from Kevin Owens, The Street Profits won the Raw Tag Team Championship titles from Seth Rollins and Murphy by pinfall.
- Riddick Moss retained the 24/7 Championship over Ricochet by pinfall.
- AJ Styles forced Aleister Black to fight Karl Anderson (who he beat by pinfall) and Luke Gallows (who he beat by disqualification) before fighting The Phenomenal One himself. By that point, Black was beaten down enough that Styles scored the pin over Black, covering him in The Undertaker’s signature pose to send a message to The Dead Man.
- Liv Morgan defeated Ruby Riott by pinfall. Sarah Logan was the special guest referee and did a fast count after Riott inadvertently struck her during the match. But this was not to align herself with Morgan, as Logan attacked her after the match just the same.
- Backstage, No Way Jose asked Erick Rowan if he could just show everyone what was in the cage. Since he asked nicely, Rowan obliged and pulled out a giant fake spider that was treated like a real one despite obviously being a toy.
- Shayna Baszler forced Kairi Sane to tap out.
- Humberto Carrillo and Rey Mysterio defeated Andrade and Angel Garza by pinfall.
- The final segment was a promo between Beth Phoenix and Randy Orton. The Viper explained why he did what he did to Edge. He said since Edge saved his life when he was making bad decisions, he wanted to do the same favor to him. When Edge returned, he knew it would only be a matter of time before someone like himself (Orton) would make a name for themselves by putting Edge in a wheelchair. To spare him that and to ensure that Edge could still be a loving husband and father, he did what he did, which is more than Beth can say. He called Beth an enabler and said the sad truth is that she knows Orton loves her family more than she does. Beth slapped him and kicked him in the stomach, but Orton retaliated with an RKO. The show ended with Phoenix being attended to by trainers and other superstars.
NXT
- Steel Cage Match: Dakota Kai defeated Tegan Nox by escaping the cage with some help from Raquel Gonzalez, who trapped Nox between the cage and the door.
- Chelsea Green defeated Shotzi Blackheart by pinfall to qualify for the No. 1 contender’s ladder match at TakeOver: Tampa.
- Cameron Grimes interrupted Keith Lee’s promo to gloat about how he beat Dominik Dijakovic in a quicker time than Lee had at TakeOver: Portland. Next week, Grimes will fight Lee for the North American Championship.
- Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly defeated Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan by pinfall. After the match, Fish and O’Reilly talked about how they want a rematch against “The LoserWeights” to get their NXT Tag Team Championship back. Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle then came out and agreed to give them a shot. As Riddle was talking, Grizzled Young Veterans attacked them as they want to put their names in the title hunt, too.
- Austin Theory defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott by pinfall.
- Johnny Gargano was interviewed by Mauro Ranallo. Long story short, Gargano kept saying “you know why” he attacked Tommaso Ciampa.
- Steel Cage Match: Roderick Strong defeated Velveteen Dream by escape when Dream purposely pushed Strong out in order to lock himself inside the cage with Adam Cole. Dream hit Cole with the NXT Championship and posed with the belt to end the show.
NXT UK
- Alexander Wolfe defeated Travis Banks by pinfall.
- Ridge Holland defeated Saxon Huxley by pinfall.
- Aoife Valkyrie defeated Isla Dawn by pinfall.
- WALTER defeated Dave Mastiff by pinfall to retain the NXT UK Championship.
WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN
- nWo was on A Moment of Bliss. Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro interrupted and picked a verbal fight, which turned physical when Braun Strowman ran them off.
- Sasha Banks and Bayley defeated Lacey Evans and Naomi by pinfall.
- Sheamus beat Apollo Crews by pinfall.
- Daniel Bryan overheard Drew Gulak talking to Drake Maverick about how he knows all of Bryan’s weaknesses in his game, so Bryan challenged Gulak to a match at Elimination Chamber.
- Fire and Desire beat Carmella and Dana Brooke by pinfall.
- On Firefly Fun House, Bray Wyatt said he forgives John Cena, but The Fiend doesn’t, and things are coming full circle for WrestleMania.
- Elias interrupted King Corbin’s interview with Kayla Braxton, saying he was playing music to drown out his annoying voice. Corbin called Elias a gimmick who looks ridiculous and will have to answer to the king if he keeps this up.
- Otis apologized to Mandy for missing their date, but Mandy said it’s too late for that after he stood her up.
- Heavy Machinery beat every team in the tag team gauntlet, only to lose in the final match to Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. That means Roode and Ziggler will enter Elimination Chamber last.
WWE 205 LIVE
- Isaiah “Swerve” Scott defeated Ariya Daivari by pinfall.
- Tony Nese and Mike Kanellis defeated Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch by pinfall.
NEWS, RUMORS AND MISCELLANEOUS OTHER INFORMATION
- Matt Hardy officially left WWE and became a free agent.
- Jeff Hardy said on WWE Backstage that he’s cleared to compete and will be returning soon.
- John “Bradshaw” Layfield was confirmed to be another inductee in this year’s class of the WWE Hall of Fame.
What were your big takeaways from this week? Tell everyone your thoughts on this past week in WWE by leaving a comment below!
