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

Doc-Chris MuellerAug 7, 2023

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of WWE Raw on August 7 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Saturday's SummerSlam featured some memorable moments, but the only title we saw change hands was the WWE Women's Championship when Iyo Sky cashed in on Bianca Belair moments after she had claimed the title from Asuka.

We also saw Roman Reigns defeat Jey Uso after Jimmy Uso betrayed his brother, Cody Rhodes beat Brock Lesnar and earned his respect, Logan Paul cheated to get a win over Ricochet, Shayna Baszler took out Ronda Rousey, LA Knight won the Battle Royal, and both Gunther and Seth Rollins retained their singles titles.

This week's Raw dealt with all of the red brand fallout from this weekend's events as well as setting the stage for Payback on September 2.

Let's take a look at what happened on Monday's Raw.

Opening Segment

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After a video recapping everything from SummerSlam, Cody Rhodes came out to kick things off. He spoke about beating Brock Lesnar on Saturday and showed a picture of the two of them shaking hands.

Seth Rollins eventually joined him in the ring and suggested they have another match, but The Judgment Day interrupted before Rhodes could respond. Damian Priest said he dictates what happens with the titles on Raw since he has the Money in the Bank briefcase.

Finn Bálor was not with the group at first, but he appeared out of nowhere to attack Rollins while Priest and Dominik Mysterio went after Rhodes. Sami Zayn made the save and helped send the group packing.

Rhodes suggested a six-man tag match for later in the night to end the segment.

All of this was fine, but it probably could have been done without taking up the first 20 minutes of the show.

Grade: B-


Notable Moments and Observations

  • This was the first week for Michael Cole and Wade Barrett on Raw as a commentary team. 
  • Rollins had on the biggest pair of crocs ever made. 

Ricochet vs. Chad Gable vs. Matt Riddle vs. Tommaso Ciampa

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Chad Gable, Ricochet, Tommaso Ciampa and Matt Riddle competed in a Fatal 4-Way to see who would get the next shot at Gunther's Intercontinental Championship.

All four men were involved in a complicated opening sequence that left them at a stalemate. Gable and Riddle had a nice grappling exchange by themselves before Ciampa took them both out.

These four men all have their own unique styles but somehow found a way to combine all of them to make this an entertaining and energetic contest.

If you want to get a crowd in the right frame of mind, putting a match like this first is a great way to do it. Everyone in attendance was cheering and chanting as the competitors proceeded to put on a fantastic performance.

After several near-falls, Gable ended up getting the pin on Ciampa to earn himself an IC title shot.

Winner: Chad Gable

Grade: A-


Notable Moments and Observations

  • Ciampa talked about how much he loves titles in the backstage segment that set up this bout. It would be great if the two-time NXT champion got another piece of gold on the main roster. 
  • The Tower of Doom spot has been played out for a long time, but they found a nice spin on it during this bout. 
  • The way CIampa and Riddle both blocked aerial moves and turned them into pins at the same time was a fun spot. 

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bronson Reed

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Two men who can't seem to get away from each other met for another match this week when Shinsuke Nakamura took on Bronson Reed.

Reed used his size to control the match for a bit, but Nakamura unloaded on him after Reed used his own taunt against him.

The two-time intercontinental champion seemed to have The Aussie Assassin's number until Reed used his entire body to take him off his feet.

These two have developed good chemistry as opponents after working together in matches for the past few months. This might have been their best encounter yet because it highlighted both of their best traits and gave them plenty of time to work.

Nakamura avoided the Tsunami and hit two Kinshasas to get the pin and the win.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

Grade: B


Notable Moments and Observations

  • WWE played a long video package before this match to hype a Bloodline segment on SmackDown. 
  • WWE insists on calling him "Big" Bronson Reed as if we can't tell he is a large man just by looking at him. 
  • The snap powerslam Reed hit looked like it almost dropped Nakamura on his head. 

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Shayna Baszler vs. Zoey Stark

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Becky Lynch came out to deliver a promo about facing Trish Stratus next week. Predictably, she was interrupted by Zoey Stark. They were soon joined by Shayna Baszler, who got a nice pop when she said she drove Rousey out of WWE.

Adam Pearce booked Stark to take on The Queen of Spades, who was sporting a nasty black eye among other injuries.

They locked up and Baszler went right for a waistlock takedown. Cole ran down a list of her injuries as she grounded Stark with an ankle lock.

They went back and forth several times throughout the match as Lynch watched from ringside with a big pitcher of lemonade. Baszler was able to pick up the win by pinfall.

The pre-match promo was a nice showing for Stark on the mic, but seeing her hold her own against someone with the credibility of Baszler was even more impressive.

This match wasn't a show-stealer or anything like that, but it wasn't a quick squash either. This was a solid performance from two women who have never had a singles match before.

Winner: Shayna Baszler

Grade: B-


Notable Moments and Observations

  • There was a funny backstage moment before Lynch's promo with Otis, Maxxine Dupri and Ludwig Kaiser that led to Otis challenging the Imperium member to a match. 
  • Stark showed a lot of confidence in this segment. It was nice to see her get a chance to shine without Stratus. 
  • Baszler was wearing a cast on her wrist from her match with Rousey. 
  • Grinding The Queen of Spades' injured eye against the ring rope was nasty business. 
  • There was an awkward moment when Baszler couldn't lift Stark for the finish. 

Otis vs. Ludwig Kaiser

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Kaiser and Otis met for a match after Gunther's lackey was caught trying to hit on Maxxine Dupri backstage.

Giovanni Vinci was at ringside for Kaiser, but Gunther was nowhere to be seen.

Kaiser tried to corner Otis for some strikes, but the big man shook off every one of them and started building up a head of steam.

Kaiser tried to hit on Dupri again, which only made Otis angrier. After Vinci tried to interfere, Gunther appeared and attacked Otis behind the ref's back, allowing Kaiser to pick up a win. Gable made the save and had a little staredown with The Ring General before he left.

This was quick and only served to build up Gable and Gunther's match, but that's no bad thing. The contest accomplished its goal and had a couple of fun moments.

Winner: Ludwig Kaiser

Grade: C


Notable Moments and Observations

  • The way Kaiser walks to the ring is such a subtle detail of his character. He makes sure to put one foot right in front of the other, almost like he is marching and walking a runway at the same time. 
  • With each passing week, Otis shows more signs of returning to his old character. The way he was dancing when Kaiser tried to hit him was right out of his Heavy Machinery playbook. 

The New Day vs. Viking Raiders

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The Miz and LA Knight had a great promo exchange that led to The A-Lister attacking his rival only to end up being put down by the former Million Dollar champion.

After a break, Kofi Kingston made his return to team up with Xavier Woods in a tag team match against The Viking Raiders. This reignited their previous feud that ended in the first Viking Rules match.

Woods and Kingston used their trademark tandem offense to keep Erik on defense for the first couple of minutes. Once they got Woods isolated, the Vikings took over.

Kingston put his ankle through its paces by hitting several high-flying moves after getting the hot tag. He looked like he hadn't lost a step during his time off.

The New Day got the win with Trouble in Paradise from Kingston followed by a flying elbow drop from Woods.

This was a short encounter that gave The New Day a win to get them back on track. These teams have had better matches, but there was nothing wrong with what we saw here.

Winners: The New Day

Grade: C+


Notable Moments and Observations

  • Sami Zayn was attacked backstage, so he was written out of the six-man match and replaced by Shinsuke Nakamura. 
  • You could see how happy Kingston was to be back. 

The Judgment Day vs. Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura

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As The Judgment Day made their way to the ring, Raquel Rodriguez attacked Rhea Ripley at ringside. It took several people to separate them after a couple of minutes of mayhem.

The tension continued between Damian Priest and Finn Bálor, so Dominik Mysterio tagged himself in to avoid an argument. Nakamura made him regret that decision with a flurry of strikes.

WWE gave them a little more than the last 20 minutes of the show, so all six men had ample opportunities to get in the ring and show off.

The story of there being issues on both sides of the ring helped make this a little more interesting than the average six-man match, but the skill of the performers involved would have made it fun regardless.

Cody Rhodes ended up getting the win for his team with an assist from the injured Zayn. He celebrated in the ring with Nakamura, Rhodes and Rollins to end the show.

Winners: Cody Rhodes, Shinsuke Nakamura and Seth Rollins

Grade: B


Notable Moments and Observations

  • It was well over 10 minutes between the moment The Judgment Day's music hit and when the bell rang. 
  • Ripley had a big red mark on her side after being attacked. 
  • Priest forgot he was the legal man for a second, and Ripley had to tell him to get back in the ring. 
  • "Dom's a loser" is the newest chant the WWE Universe has for Dominik. 
  • Right as the show was about to end, Nakamura hit Rollins with a Kinshasa and left the ring.

The Final Word

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This week's Raw did a good job dealing with everything from SummerSlam, but it didn't feel like WWE was in a huge hurry to set up anything for Payback.

We got some good promos from Stark, Baszler, Knight and The Miz, and the Fatal 4-Way that started the action this week was an outstanding display of different wrestling styles.

It was also great to see Kingston return looking happy and healthy after a long injury absence. You could see the joy on his and Woods' faces during their backstage interview.

All in all, this was a decent episode of Raw that gave us some interesting new storylines that will likely lead to pay-per-view matches in the near future.

Grade: B-

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