Cody Rhodes faced Finn Balor in the main event of WWE Raw while Becky Lynch had her grudge match with Trish Stratus.
This week’s Raw took place at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was Michael Cole and Wade Barrett on commentary.
The Judgment Day’s Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio started the show with a promo. They did their usual bit about running Raw. Priest said that Finn Balor should be there. JD McDonagh interrupted to say he heard from Finn, who said that The Judgment Day needs to worry about Cody Rhdoes and Sami Zayn. Ripley said they don’t take orders from somebody not in The Judgment Day.
Sami Zayn interrupted the promo to go after JD McDonagh, who attacked Zayn last week. JD sent Sami’s injured left elbow into the ring post.
Match #1:Sami Zayn defeated JD McDonagh. – Finn Balor distracted Zayn, but Zayn punched him off the apron and Zayn hit a Helluva Kick on McDonagh for the pinfall win.
Chelsea Green was talking to Adam Pearce about her Women’s Tag Team Titles. Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter to show up about wanting a title shot, but Piper Niven walked into deck both of them. Piper grabbed a title and told Green that Niven is Green’s partner now.
There were promos from Imperium and Alpha Academy to build up GUNTHER’s Intercontinental Title defense against Chad Gable. Ludwig Kaiser flirted with Maxxine Dupri, so she slapped him.
Match #2:Chad Gable defeated Giovanni Vinci with the Chaos Theory German Suplex into a bridging pin.
Match #3:GUNTHER defeated Otis with a Powerbomb. It was an impressive move on a 350-pounder like Otis. After the match, Chad Gable hit a German Suplex on Gunther, who bailed to the floor right after.
A video package aired about last Friday’s Smackdown when Jey Uso beat up Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso. After all of that, Jey Uso quit WWE as well. Wade Barrett mentioned that Jey was moved to the Alumni Section on WWE.com as well to continue the storyline as the announcers wondered if Jey really quit WWE.
Match #4: Drew McIntyre & Matt Riddle defeated the Viking Raiders. – McIntyre got the win for his team with a Claymore Kick on Erik.
After a break, Matt Riddle & Drew McIntyre were walking backstage with Riddle saying he thinks they can be Tag Team Champions. The New Day’s Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston interrupted to challenge Matt & Drew to a match next week and Riddle accepted. Drew never said a word during the segment.
Match #5:Rhea Ripley defeated Indi Hartwell in a short match. – Ripley won clean with the Riptide. After the match, Indi and Candice LeRae got the upper hand on Rhea before escaping.
Shinsuke Nakamura was interviewed by Michael Cole in the ring. Nakamura said he attacked Seth Rollins because he wanted the World Heavyweight Title. Seth Rollins interrupted to say that all Nakamura had to do was ask. Rollins told Nakamura he’ll get his World Title match. They shook hands, Nakamura told Rollins something that rattled Seth, so Nakamura hit a Kinshasa to knock Rollins down.
The Miz was interviewed backstage teasing that he would show up on Smackdown to confront his rival LA Knight.
Match #6:Becky Lynch‘s match with Trish Stratus ended in a Double Countout. – They went fighting into the crowd, so it was a double countout. Their fight took them up the steps and into the concourse area. Zoey Stark showed up to help Trish, who knocked down Lynch with a Chick Kick.
After a break, WWE Official Adam Pearce walked up to Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark complaining about how Trish constantly tries to get out of her matches with Lynch. Pearce said that they’ll do this Lynch-Stratus match one more time in a Steel Cage. Trish wasn’t happy about that.
Match #7:Cody Rhodes defeated Finn Balor with Cross Rhodes for the pinfall win. – Cody won after Damian Priest accidentally tossed the Money in the Bank briefcase to Cody instead of Balor, so Cody used it on Balor on Priest when the referee wasn’t looking. Cody hit Cross Rhodes to win.
After the match, The Judgment Day beat up Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn. JD McDonagh did a cheap shot to Zayn to give the advantage to The Judgment Day. Priest put Zayn through the commentary table with a Razor’s Edge. Balor hit the Coup de Grace on Rhodes. The Judgment Day stood tall to end Raw.
Next Monday On WWE Raw
Intercontinental Champion @Gunther_AUT will defend against @WWEGable next week on #WWERaw! pic.twitter.com/Q6VuO3odaC
— WWE (@WWE) August 15, 2023
GUNTHER defends the Intercontinental Championship against Chad Gable. Also, The New Day faces Drew McIntyre & Matt Riddle in tag team action.
The next WWE Premium Live Event is Payback on September 2nd. No matches have been announced yet.