WWE Raw Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights After Clash in Paris
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE Raw on September 1.
Clash in Paris ended with Becky Lynch helping Seth Rollins retain the World Heavyweight Championship, indicating that the power couple may be more of a unit on screen moving forward.
Monday's Raw saw both of them celebrate their wins on Sunday as well as the following segments:
- The Judgment Day vs. Kabuki Warriors
- The New Day and Grayson Waller vs. War Raiders and Penta
- Women's world title situation addressed
- Roman Reigns update
- Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles (Intercontinental Championship)
Let's take a look at everything that happened on Monday's Raw at the Paris La Défense Arena in Paris.
Don't Mess with Jey Uso's Family
1 of 8
After a recap of Clash in Paris and the usual shots of people arriving at the arena, Jey Uso made his way out to a crowd full of people chanting and singing for him.
He was still banged up and in a bad mood after what happened at Sunday's PLE. He said he didn't regret helping Roman Reigns even though it ended up getting him hurt because it's family.
He called out The Vision for a fight, but LA Knight came out instead. He said they both lost Sunday night, but it was Uso's fault because he couldn't focus on what mattered.
Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed came out on the stage to talk some trash. After a few minutes of back-and-forth insults, the Brons challenged Uso and Knight to a tag match. The babyfaces accepted the challenge to end the segment.
This was pretty standard stuff, but the crowd was super into it.
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- CM Punk was shown waiting for Rollins to arrive backstage as the show got going.
- Knight was making some good points. Logic is not always a big part of wrestling, but it's nice when it shows up.
- Breakker getting upset at the crowd for singing was funny.
The Judgment Day vs. the Kabuki Warriors
2 of 8
The first match this week saw Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez take on Asuka and Kairi Sane.
The Prodigy and The Empress of Tomorrow started for their teams with a basic lockup struggle. Perez slapped Asuka and then immediately retreated out of the ring to avoid a kick.
They kept a steady pace as both teams started making tags. Sane and Perez had a nice sequence before Rodriguez tagged in and overpowered The Pirate Princess.
Sane took out Rodriguez at ringside with her signature elbow while Asuka got the win for her team with an Asuka Lock on Perez. The Empress tried to end with a different move, but it went awry and she improvised.
This was a decent match but the way it ended stood out as strange, especially from the usually flawless Asuka.
Result: The Kabuki Warriors defeated The Judgment Day
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Iyo Sky was shown talking to Asuka and Sane backstage. It was clear Asuka did not want her help Monday night even though they helped Sky previously. Tension is being built slowly.
- Rodriguez did a surprising amount of selling for Sane.
- Perez and Rodriguez have grown into a fun team. They use their size difference well.
Finn Balor vs. Dragon Lee
3 of 8
We went from the women of The Judgment Day to the men of the group when JD McDonagh accompanied Finn Balor to the ring for a singles match against Dragon Lee.
Balor took control right away with a wristlock and wrestled Lee to the mat, but the high-flyer didn't take long to reverse it. They traded moves, but The Prince seemed to have the advantage most of the time.
We returned from a break to see Lee starting to make a comeback. He hit a series of fast-paced moves that had Balor reeling.
The fans started chanting and waving their arms as the luchador was on a roll, but as soon as Balor hit a dropkick, the crowd was on his side again. He hit a Coup de Grace for the pin and the win to end a fun encounter.
Lee taking the loss here wasn't surprising, but WWE needs to do something interesting with him soon. He's too good to be floundering like this.
Result: Balor defeated Lee
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- It's been a long time since Balor turned heel. It might be time to turn him face again soon. He feels stagnant in this role.
- Lee's masks always look cool. Whoever makes them does great work.
- The way Lee floats over his opponent to get into a powerbomb position is so smooth.
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The New Day and Grayson Waller vs. War Raiders and Penta
4 of 8
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods teamed up with Grayson Waller to take on Erik, Ivar and Penta in a six-man tag team match this week.
It's been a while since we last saw Erik and Ivar, and they looked excited to be back in the ring with their longtime rivals, The New Day.
The Raiders and Penta took out their opponents with some triple-team offense before they all did the Penta strut to send us into a break.
We have seen New Day and War Raiders fight so many times that it feels like there is nothing new they can do at this point, but it has been long enough since their last encounter that this didn't feel repetitive.
All six men looked good, but Erik and Ivar were the stars of this bout. The crowd was clearly happy to see them in action. This was a solid performance even if it was on the predictable side, but it could have been much better with a little more time.
Result: Penta and The War Raiders defeated The New Day and Waller
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Raw general manager Adam Pearce was shown banning Balor and McDonagh from ringside during Dominik Mysterio's match later in the show.
- Michael Cole was trying to argue with Wade Barrett about destroyers not being piledrivers, but Barrett was right: It's just a modified piledriver.
Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles
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The intercontinental title was on the line this week when Dominik Mysterio defended the belt against AJ Styles.
Dom attacked Styles during the official introductions to give himself an early advantage, but The Phenomenal One fired back with a trademark dropkick followed by a slingshot elbow at ringside.
We returned from a break to see Dom in the driver's seat. He was keeping the pace slow to keep Styles grounded, but it only worked for so long. This match ended up having more commercials than usual, which hurt the flow and presentation a little.
The fans were loud and on their feet almost the entire time. Dom played his role as a cowardly heel perfectly, while Styles leaned into the crowd reactions.
The raucous French fans helped make this match feel more important, and Styles and Mysterio did a great job giving them reasons to cheer. Unfortunately, El Grande Americano showed up and attacked Styles while the ref was distracted.
Mysterio took advantage and hit a frog splash for the pin and the win. Other than the fact that this had to have a dirty finish, this was an enjoyable performance.
Result: Mysterio defeated Styles
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- The crowd was singing for Styles during his entrance. It was one of the rowdiest entrances of the night. They were still singing after a commercial break.
- Lyra Valkyria had a quick backstage segment with Pearce that led to her being booked in a match next week.
- Cole said this was the first time the IC title has been defended in France since 1993.
Becky Lynch Has a Bone to Pick with Punk
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CM Punk came to the ring and called out Seth Rollins, but what he got instead was Becky Lynch coming out to her husband's music. She mocked the crowd for chanting for AJ Lee.
The Man ripped into The Best in the World for insulting and attacking her husband repeatedly. He called Rollins a coward, and Lynch said he is everything Punk will never be.
The Visionary eventually came out and told Punk to say what he has to say to his face, but Lynch blocked Punk's path. She smacked him several times after Rollins walked away. The Second City Saint said she would regret putting her hands on him.
Lynch was the star of this segment. This would have been another standard Punk promo had it not been for the fire she showed.
Grade: B+
Jey Uso and LA Knight vs. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed
7 of 8
The main event of this week's Raw was the tag match booked in the opening segment, with Breakker and Reed taking on Knight and Uso.
Reed and Uso started the match, but Knight quickly tagged in to give his teammate some help taking on the big man.
This match played out as most bouts like this tend to: Both teams got in about the same amount of offense, the heels cheated here and there, and the babyfaces found ways to rally at different times.
Uso and Knight almost made a successful comeback, but Breakker was able to get the victory with a Spear. As usual, winning wasn't enough, so the heels kept up the attack.
Jimmy Uso hit the ring with a steel chair to make the save for his brother.
Result: Reed and Breakker defeated Uso and Knight.
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
- Breakker is so good at portraying the energy of a guy you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.
- Reed mistimed a kick meant for Jey, but he covered for it with a clubbing blow from behind.
The Final Word
8 of 8
Monday's Raw was a relatively average episode that was elevated by a loud and rowdy Paris crowd that never seemed to lose its energy.
Chants and singing echoed in the arena all night, but a couple of people got louder reactions than others.
Styles vs. Mysterio was easily the best match of the night, but Lee and Balor put on a great performance that was also worth watching.
The fallout from Clash in Paris and beginning of the build toward Wrestlepalooza took up a lot of time, but the show had the usual number of matches to keep the action going.
Punk and Rollins continuing their feud makes a lot of sense, and it should be interesting to see how they fill time between now and their showdown.
It looks like Punk's wife, AJ Lee, is on her way back to WWE, and it could be as early as Friday's SmackDown in Chicago.
Grade: B
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