RAW 1297: April 2, 2018

## Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey confront Stephanie McMahon & Triple H

On her first night as a WWE Superstar, Ronda Rousey sent Triple H crashing through a table. Now, Stephanie McMahon has repaid the favor.

In the final faceoff between WrestleMania’s Mixed Tag Team opponents — Rousey & Kurt Angle and Triple H & Stephanie — tensions escalated almost immediately, thanks to The King of Kings pre-emptively blaming The Olympic Gold Medalist for a potential Ronda loss. The Baddest Woman on the Planet replied by demanding why Triple H signed her with “ulterior motives;” Stephanie took issue with being demanded to do anything; Angle reminded his opponents they were speaking to an Olympic medalist and a former UFC champion; and Triple H brought it all home by reminding Angle that, despite all of Ronda’s accolades and skills, she was stepping into a world she did not yet fully understand.

The trash-talking continued through a pair of questions from the WWE Universe, peaking when Stephanie implied that Rousey’s impending loss would be too much for her to handle. Moderator Jonathan Coachman seemed to cool the hostilities enough to stage a pre-match photo opp, but Stephanie’s words had hit their mark, and Rousey was soon nose-to-nose with the Raw Commissioner. Triple H dispatched Angle with a microphone to the back of the head, and when “Rowdy” Ronda turned her attention to the COO, Stephanie struck, driving Ronda through the interview table she’d been sitting behind moments earlier.

How Ronda will rebound from this display remains to be seen, but she left Raw with the uncomfortable realization that Triple H and Stephanie were telling the truth after all: She may be a UFC champion, and she may be an Olympic medalist, but Ronda Rousey is playing an entirely different game now.

## Bayley vs. Sonya Deville

The WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal is an opportunity for both Bayley and Sasha Banks to make yet another bit of history. That said, it’s looking more and more like they see it as an opportunity to finally beat each other up — and that may well make them easy pickings for the other Superstars looking to seize their moment.

The fraying friendship between the former champions seemed, at first, to repair itself when Banks came down to the ring following Bayley’s victory over Sonya Deville of Absolution, who turned in her most impressive performance as a Raw Superstar. After The Huggable One rolled up Sonya for the win, she was easy pickings for Paige’s crew until The Boss’ arrival evened the odds. Bayley, however, refused to grant Sasha’s demand to raise her hand in a show of gratitude, leading to the second brawl between the two in two weeks — though this tussle was interrupted by Absolution, who seized the opportunity to drop them both and leave the ring with the wind at their backs heading into WrestleMania.

In other words, Bayley and Sasha can use the Battle Royal as a chance to finally work out their aggression. But as their collision course winds through a crowded field, they may yet find that tunnel vision does them more harm than good.

## Alexa Bliss & Mickie James vs. Asuka & Dana Brooke

Whether Alexa Bliss loses the Raw Women’s Title at WrestleMania 34 remains to be seen, but The Goddess took two L’s on Raw — one literal and one metaphorical — sending her to The Showcase of the Immortals with a lot of ground to cover if she wants to retain her championship against a furious Nia Jax, whom Bliss has insulted for the better part of two weeks.

The first of Bliss’ losses came in a tag team match that pitted her and Mickie James against Dana Brooke and Asuka, who’ll challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Title at The Show of Shows this Sunday. That was something of a shocker, as Alexa and Mickie isolated Dana for almost the entire match. Brooke, to her credit, was tough as nails and ultimately managed to reach Asuka after creating some hard-won separation. Once The Empress of Tomorrow entered the bout, Mickie succumbed to the Asuka Lock in relatively short order.

Alexa and Mickie got the jump on Asuka and Dana in a post-match attack, but Nia — who vowed to “squash Alexa like a bug” in a backstage interview — quickly hit the scene, pulverizing James with a Samoan Drop while Bliss ran scared up the ramp, ending her night on the second disappointment in almost as many minutes. The good news for the champion, at least, is that she’ll have a chance to avenge these shortcomings on Sunday. The bad news is there won’t be any escape this time around.

## Results

* Bayley def. Sonya Deville (w/ Mandy Rose & Paige)
* Asuka & Dana Brooke def. Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss & Mickie James