WWE Raw Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights Before SummerSlam

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of WWE Raw on July 31 in Houston, Texas.

Following last week's events, Seth Rollins formed an alliance with Sami Zayn to battle Señor Money in the Bank Damian Priest and NXT North American champion Dominik Mysterio.

After months of encounters, Maxxine Dupri and Valhalla finally stepped into the ring to settle their differences once and for all. Whenever they are involved, Alpha Academy and The Viking Raiders are never far away.

We also got appearances from Cody Rhodes, Brock Lesnar and Logan Paul. Let's take a look at everything that happened on Monday's show.

Opening Segment

The show opened with Logan Paul arriving to the usual chorus of boos. He said he wasn't there for the fans, he was there for Ricochet.

The high-flyer came out and said he has no respect for Paul as a human being, but he does have respect for his athleticism and showmanship.

Paul made some remarks about Samantha Irvin, who is the ring announcer and also Ricochet's fiancée. The high-flier took out his rival's legs and started punching him.

The two brawled until Paul nailed Ricochet with a big right hand as he flew off the top rope. The segment ended with the YouTuber taking a selfie with him on the mat.

This was nothing special, but it was the best way for WWE to hype this match in 10 minutes.

Grade: B

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Notable Moments and Observations

• There was a moment when Ricochet was supposed to put his foot on Paul's chest and flip backward. He didn't quite get his foot placed properly because the social media star stumbled, but he still landed on his feet. That's how talented Ricochet is. 

Ludwig Kaiser vs. Matt Riddle

The feud between Matt Riddle and Imperium continued this week when The Original Bro battled Ludwig Kaiser, who was looking to prove something to Gunther after his loss to Drew McIntyre last week.

The first few minutes of this match were a nice display of grappling technique. They mostly focused on holds and takedowns, but once Riddle threw the first punch, it triggered an exchange of lefts and rights.

Gunther and Giovanni Vinci watched from ringside as The Bro was in firm control after the commercial break.

Kaiser has lowkey been one of Raw's most consistent performers and this was another great performance from the German grappler that, for once, ended in his hand being raised.

After hitting a modified DDT, Kaiser covered Riddle for the pin to end a fun, physical contest.

Winner: Ludwig Kaiser

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Remember when Gunther was beating up Kaiser last year whenever he would lose and then just stopped for some reason? It feels like that kind of treatment might return soon. 
• There was an awkward moment when Kaiser may have caught a punch a little harder than intended, but he recovered quickly and kept going like a pro 
• Kaiser's jumping enziguiri was awesome. 

Maxxine Dupri vs. Valhalla

The feud between Alpha Academy and The Viking Raiders continued this week with Dupri and Valhalla finally stepping into the ring for a one-on-one bout.

This was technically Dupri's singles debut, but Chad Gable and Otis were there for support.

Erik and Ivar were in Valhalla's corner, but she didn't need them. As soon as the bell rang, she ran across the ring and hit a knee that took Dupri off her feet.

It didn't take long for Otis and Gable to get on the apron to offer some encouragement as their friend hit a very sloppy caterpillar.

Gable took out Otis, Ivar and Erik with a moonsault to take the men out of the equation. Dupri lifted Valhalla up into an electric chair and slammed her down into a bridge to get the three-count.

Nobody will say this was a good match from a wrestling standpoint, but it was kind of fun and in the end, that's what WWE is best at. Dupri is playing someone who isn't good at this yet and she is doing a great job of it.

Winner: Maxxine Dupri

Grade: C

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Notable Moments and Observations

• The choice of music in the video package for Lesnar and Rhodes was a little unusual. 
• Either she does something to make them look dirty every week or Valhalla just walks around with feet that are black on the bottom all the time. 
• It's hard to tell what was supposed to happen, but there was a moment when Valhalla whipped Dupri and she just fell to the mat. 

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

The Judgment Day came out and gave a promo about their dominance.

After each member spoke, Raquel Rodriguez came down to get some revenge on behalf of her tag team partner, Liv Morgan. Ripley got the upper hand eventually and took out her leg.

The next match was between Tommaso Ciampa and Shinsuke Nakamura. The two have had several run-ins in recent weeks in matches involving Bronson Reed, so they finally decided to step into the ring to see if they can move past this.

Reed was shown watching backstage as Nakamura took control. Even though these two men don't necessarily hate each other, they were being very aggressive.

This was a hard-hitting match, but the ending wasn't exactly what Ciampa was hoping for. As they fought, Nakamura rolled him up and used a handful of trunks to get the pin.

This wasn't a conclusive ending and leaves it open for a rematch down the line.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Ripley and Rodriguez are made to be rivals. They always bring the best out of each other. 
• Gable and Gunther ended up agreeing to have a five-minute challenge during a backstage segment. 
• Nakamura and Ciampa almost looked like tag team partners. It's always weird when opponents have the same color scheme for some reason. 

Gunther vs. Chad Gable

Lesnar came out and talked about his upcoming SummerSlam match against Rhodes. He ran through his accolades and called out The American Nightmare, who obliged and came out in his gear looking ready to fight.

They shook hands and had a tense moment that led to Rhodes taking his rival out with a suicide dive as he tried to leave.

The Beast Incarnate slammed Rhodes into the steel steps before using them as a weapon to hit him in the face. Lesnar acted like he was going to leave but then went back to inflict more damage twice. The segment ended with him hitting the F-5.

The next match was the five-minute challenge between Gunther and Gable. The clock started, and The Ring General threw his opponent across the ring with ease to show his dominance.

Gunther dominated Gable for four minutes before the Alpha Academy leader was able to counter him into an ankle lock. The intercontinental champion broke free, but Gable was able to counter his powerbomb and ended up running out the clock to win the match.

Gunther demanded more time be added to the clock, and the announcer said it would continue before Gable hit a running dropkick to send us into a commercial. We returned to see The Ring General destroying the Olympian until he locked Gunther in an armbar over the top rope for the full five-count.

Gunther finally put him away with a powerbomb after a competitive final few minutes.

This ended up being one of the best matches of the night when all was said and done.

Winner: Chad Gable and then Gunther

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Rhodes taking a beating right before his match with Lesnar is a good sign that he is going to defeat The Beast at SummerSlam this weekend. 
• Samantha Irvin has so many little things she does for different Superstars to make their entrance unique. The way she said Kaiser's name earlier was totally different from how she introduced Gunther. 
• The Ring General has such a great German suplex. He makes sure it looks good while also ensuring his opponent lands as safely as possible. Gable's is also good while being completely different. 

Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus

Becky Lynch was in the ring when we returned from a commercial to discuss getting a rematch against Trish Stratus after she defeated Zoey Stark last week.

Stratus tried to back out of having the match on Monday's show, but Adam Pearce came out and declared it would take place right then and there. He called an official to the ring, and the veteran complained about possibly breaking her nose again as she walked down the ramp.

Lynch jumped on Stratus once the bell rang, but Stark caused a DQ by interfering almost immediately.

This was fine in terms of setting up something for later, which was booked backstage, but as far as the match itself is concerned, it wasn't even a match.

Winner: Becky Lynch

Grade: C-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Lynch's superpower is that you can't whip her into anything because she's Irish. She just reversed four times when they were trying to throw her into stuff. 
• Stratus lost her mask during the melee.

Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn vs. Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest

The main event of the night was the tag team match with Rollins and Zayn taking on The Judgment Day's Mysterio and Priest.

The fight started before the bell. Rollins and Zayn were standing tall in the ring as the show cut to a break. We returned just as the ref called for the bell. Rollins chased Dirty Dom and made the mistake of allowing him to get the upper hand, but he quickly regained control as Ripley yelled at him from ringside.

The world and tag team champs controlled the pace for some time, even after Priest tagged in. We returned from the final break to see Zayn get a hot tag and start going on a rampage.

Finn Bálor and Ripley were going nuts at ringside watching Rollins take it to Priest with a trio of suicide dives that sent him over the announce table.

After he took control, Priest told Bálor to hand him the Money in the Bank contract. Before he could cash it in, Rollins kicked the briefcase into his face. Mayhem broke out and led to Rollins hitting The Stomp for the win.

This was an entertaining tag match to close the show and continue this feud for another week. The absence of Kevin Owens could be felt, but Zayn and Rollins worked well together against The Judgment Day. Dom did a great job being the guy who took the most punishment on his team.

Winners: Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn

Grade: B+

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Notable Moments and Observations

• The video packages for Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler were fantastic. 
• It's weird to have Rollins on a show and only see him one time near the end. WWE loves to get the pop from his music multiple times per show. 
• Interrupting the crowd's chant for Rollins by playing The Judgment Day's music was a good way to get more heat from the crowd. 

The Final Word

As far as go-home shows go, this episode of Raw did a pretty good job selling all of the matches that will occupy the SummerSlam card on Saturday night.

The video packages for Rousey and Baszler were outstanding and really put a spotlight on the emotional weight of their feud due to their lengthy friendship.

Gable and Gunther put on a banger of a match that seemed like it was going to be a joke at first, Kaiser getting a clean win over Riddle was a nice surprise, and Ciampa losing to Nakamura due to cheating is going to keep that storyline going for at least another week.

This show had some weak points, but it did a good job setting up the pay-per-view and giving fans some fun matches along the way.

Grade: B+