WWE Raw Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from July 17

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of WWE Raw on July 17 in Atlanta, Georgia.

With SummerSlam fast approaching, WWE is in full planning mode to set up all of the matches for the event. One feud in particular that was advanced this week was Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes.

Tag team action was also a major focus this week. The women's tag titles were on the line when Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez put the belts on the line against Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green, and Alpha Academy took on The Viking Raiders in a Viking Rules match.

We also saw Matt Riddle finally get a chance to face Gunther without Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci at ringside.

Let's take a look at what happened during Monday's episode of Raw.

The Beast Confronts His Nightmare

The Atlanta crowd welcomed hometown hero Rhodes back with open arms as he made his way to the ring to open the show.

He spent a moment talking to the crowd before addressing Lesnar, who he called out right away. The Beast never showed up, so The American Nightmare put the focus on his mother in the front row and asked the fans to acknowledge her.

As Rhodes was preparing to leave, Lesnar's music hit and he prepared for a fight. The music stopped and then started up again. Rhodes marched backstage and then came stumbling back out after The Beast nailed him with a chair.

The former world champion proceeded to absolutely demolish The American Nightmare right in front of his mother. Lesnar accepted the challenge for SummerSlam to end the segment.

With Rhodes being so over in his home state of Georgia, it was a smart move to start the show with this. It put a lot of heat on Lesnar and helped keep their feud going effectively.

Grade: B+

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• It's kind of funny to realize that we never get to hear Rhodes' music for very long because you start hearing parts of the song you have never heard before. 
• You can tell Rhodes' mom has been around the business for decades because watching her son get beat up barely phased her. 

Matt Riddle vs. Gunther

Riddle and Gunther met for a Money in the Bank rematch, but this time, The Bro didn't have to worry about Kaiser or Vinci getting involved thanks to them being banned from ringside.

The IC champion found himself on defense and had to counter a few submissions right away. When he left the ring to regroup and Riddle followed, Gunther took him down with a huge chop and a body slam to completely turn the match around.

The Ring General did his best to slap the soul out of Riddle's body, but The Bro kept himself in the fight and took every single one of those brutal shots to the chest.

After putting up a good fight, Riddle was unable to kick out after a powerbomb. This was a hard-hitting match that showed off the differences and similarities of both men. The crowd was heavily invested and treated The Ring General like the villain he is.

Winner: Gunther

Grade: B+

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• The CGI animals for Riddle's entrance were rhinos, but Corey Graves called them chubby unicorns. 
• They did a good job making this feel completely different than their MITB bout. 
• Both guys had a red chest after they traded a bunch of stiff chops. 

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville

Judgment Day came out to give a promo about their various feuds and storylines. As usual, Dominik Mysterio was booed too much to talk.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn came out to talk a little trash, which led to Damian Priest challenging them to put the tag titles on the line in a match, which KO angrily accepted.

Before the promo, Rhea Ripley attacked Rodriguez and injured her knee, making her a prime target for Green and Deville in their title bout.

We returned from a break to see the match in progress. Green and Deville kept Morgan isolated with quick tags, but it didn't take too long for Rodriguez to tag in and help her partner out.

This match ended up being much more competitive than anyone could have predicted. The crowd was noticeably more invested as time went on, but a lot of people seemed upset to see the titles change hands when Deville scored the pin on Morgan.

The women's tag team division might never be fully fleshed out, but the teams WWE has been pushing lately are doing a good job of making the matches fun.

Winners: Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green

Grade: B-

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• Every member of Judgment Day gets a completely unique reaction from the crowd, which is pretty rare when it comes to stables. 
• The way Samantha Irvin says Chelsea's name during her entrance is so funny. 
• It's great to see Deville being treated like a bigger threat. WWE used her to put other people over for too long. 
• The way Deville broke up a pin with a running knee to Morgan looked awesome. The camera was in the perfect spot so Deville only entered the frame at the last second. 

Alpha Academy vs. Viking Raiders

Chad Gable and Otis battled Erik and Ivar in a Viking Rules match in an attempt to put their feud to bed once and for all.

Otis sent Gable into the Vikings during their entrance to get the fight going before the ref could call for the bell.

There were very few rules, so this match was mayhem from start to finish. The props and wooden ship might have been a bit much, but all four men in the ring made sure this was taken as seriously as possible.

Maxxine Dupri finally got her Alpha Academy jacket but her celebration was shortlived thanks to Valhalla putting her through a table.

Otis put on an impressive performance, but a double powerbomb from both Vikings was finally enough to put him away. This was a lot of fun and a perfect encapsulation of what makes WWE unique compared to other promotions.

Winners: The Viking Raiders

Grade: B+

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• When Maxxine was posing in front of the ship, she kind of looked like a figurehead. 
• It seemed weird to have Titus O'Neil on commentary. 
• The way Erik slammed Ivar into Otis from the ship to the floor was a good spot. 
• Otis catching Ivar in midair for a slam was incredibly impressive. 

Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross, Miz TV

Nikki Cross went right after Shayna Baszler as soon as the bell rang, but The Queen of Spades quickly grabbed her in the Kirifuda Clutch to get an easy submission win.

Ronda Rousey taunted Shayna from the crowd and the segment ended with Rousey saying she would see Baszler at SummerSlam.

Winner: Shayna Baszler

Grade: Incomplete

Up next was an episode of Miz TV with Becky Lynch as his special guest. He asked her if she has lost a step and it sent her into a tailspin.

Lynch threw the chairs out of the ring and told him to just stop wasting time and bring out Trish Stratus because she knows how his show works.

After a lot of arguing, Trish agreed to face Becky in a match, but only if she gets through Zoey Stark first. She also made The Man agree to thank her if she loses.

Zoey and Trish ended up attacking her in a somewhat clunky way. It didn't kill the segment but it was certainly an awkward way to end things.

Grade: C

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• Rousey had a couple of good lines in her promo. 
• The Miz acting scared of Lynch was hilarious. 

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bronson Reed

Bronson Reed and Shinsuke Nakamura have clashed several times in recent months and they added one more chapter to their story on this week's show.

Nakamura relied on his striking ability to keep the big man at bay, but Reed absorbed most of them and kept finding ways to take him down.

They fought through a break and into a second segment. The longer the match went, the more it seemed to favor Reed, which is the exact opposite of what you would expect just from looking at them.

Tommaso Ciampa ended up causing Nakamura to be disqualified when he attacked Reed, which caused Nakamura to kick him in the face.

The match was decent but the finish makes it all feel like it was just filler.

Winner: Bronson Reed by DQ

Grade: B-

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• Reed mocking Nakamura in the corner was really funny. 
• Nakamura has two speeds to his kicks. Sometimes he is just trying to make it look good, and other times he is trying to make it hurt. 
• Adding "Big" to Reed's name was definitely a Vince McMahon decision. 

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens vs. Judgment Day

The main event of the night was the tag title match that was made earlier in the evening. Priest and Mysterio were the members of Judgment Day who got to challenge Zayn and Owens.

Before the match could get started, Rollins came out of nowhere and attacked Balor. They ran to the back, leaving Judgment Day down a man.

Priest was able to take control for a bit, but once Dom tagged in, the champs were able to corner him for some double-team combos.

The match was good, but it feels like a match we have already seen multiple times. Ever since KO and Zayn moved on from The Bloodline, they have barely interacted with anyone other than Judgment Day.

The crowd was enjoying the action and everyone did a good job making this a solid main event even though the titles never felt like they were in danger of changing hands.

Morgan ran down and attacked Ripley to keep her from getting involved. The distraction allowed Zayn to hit Dom with a Helluva Kick for the win.

Winners: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens

Grade: B

---

Notable Moments and Observations

• The way Rollins was running in the shoes he was wearing looked almost cartoonish. 
• The way Ripley has grown as a character since joining Judgment Day has been so much fun to watch. She has so much more charisma than she did two years ago. 
• Dom did a good job selling the Popup Powerbomb from Owens. 

The Final Word

A hot crowd will always make a good show better, and the crowd in Georgia this week was one of the best we have seen in a while.

The women's tag titles changing hands was probably the most shocking thing that happened on the show. Everything else seemed dedicated to setting up matches for SummerSlam.

A handful of new bouts were confirmed for the PPV with segments that varied in quality, but the biggest addition to the card has to be Lesnar vs. Rhodes.

Alpha Academy and The Viking Raiders might have had the best performance of the night from an entertainment standpoint, but Gunther and Riddle definitely gave the crowd a good fight, too.

All in all, this was a strong week for the red brand. Let's hope the trend continues as we get closer to the PPV.

Grade: B+