WWE Raw Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From Oct. 20

On the heels of a shocking betrayal of world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman arrived at Raw with plenty to say and a WWE Universe looking for explanations for their attack on The Visionary.

Their promo headlined a show that featured three championship matches and an update on Rollins' status as world champion from Raw general manager Adam Pearce.

Find out what went down, how each segment graded out, and instant analysis in this recap of the October 20 Netflix broadcast from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.

Match Card

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Announced in advance of Monday's show:

• Women's Intercontinental Championship: Maxxine Dupri vs. Becky Lynch (c)
• Intercontinental Championship: Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. Rusev
• World Tag Team Championship: AJ Styles and Dragon Lee vs. Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh (c)
• A promo from Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman
• An update on world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins

The Vision Interrupted Adam Pearce

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Last Time in Action: Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed defeated Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton (SmackDown, October 3)

Raw general manager Adam Pearce took to the squared circle to announce an update on Seth Rollins' injury when Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman interrupted.

Pearce revealed Rollins is fresh out of major surgery and will miss a considerable amount of time. He announced he is removing the World Heavyweight Championship from The Visionary and a Battle Royal would be held later in the show to determine who will face CM Punk for the gold at Saturday Night's Main Event on November 1.

Pearce ordered Breakker to hand over the world title, to which The Badass responded, "What if I don't?"

After some establishment of dominance by Breakker, including demanding Pearce say "please" in return for the world title, Pearce received the belt.

Heyman grabbed the microphone and said he did not leave Roman Reigns and betray Punk at WrestleMania 41 to side with Rollins but rather because he knew Breakker and Reed were the future of the business.

After rallying off Rollins' previous nicknames and saying he was neither of them, he called The Visionary a "bum shoulder b---h" and declared this a "re-vision of the future."

Grade

B

Top Moments and Takeaways

• This was a solid opening promo segment in that it gave us the latest on the status of Rollins, announced a high-stakes main event for the show and put the heels at the forefront.
• With that said, there was little in the way of substantive explanation for Breakker and Reed's attack on Rollins. It felt like cheap reasoning rather than a legitimate answer to the questions fans have had in the seven days since the attack.
• Breakker looked like a million bucks here, though, and the world heavyweight title looked at home on his shoulder.

World Tag Team Championship: AJ Styles and Dragon Lee vs. Judgment Day

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Last Time in Action: AJ Styles and Dragon Lee defeated Los Americanos (Raw, September 29); Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh defeated Mr. Iguana and Lee (Raw, August 18)

Bálor and McDonagh controlled the early portion of Monday's title defense against Styles and Lee, isolating the masked babyface and cutting him off from his partner.

A frustrated Phenomenal One entered the ring, took out both opponents, and dragged Lee closer to the corner so he could make the tag.

A well-timed pull of the ropes halted Styles' momentum, though, and sent him crashing to the floor ahead of the commercial break.

Back from the timeout and Styles managed to create separation and make the tag to Lee. That sparked the babyface comeback as the luchador exploded into the ring and too the fight to both opponents, wiping them out on the floor.

Two superb near-falls ensued, with Styles nearly winning gold for his team and Bálor almost retaining for The Judgment Day.

As the action broke down, Lee wiped out McDonagh at ringside, allowing Styles to deliver the Styles Clash to his fellow Bullet Club alum for the win and the gold.

Result

Styles and Lee defeated Bálor and McDonagh to win the titles

Grade

A

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Backstage, tension within The Judgment Day continued to rear its head as Bálor and McDonagh took exception to Dominik Mysterio getting them into a title defense. Roxanne Perez attempted to soothe things over with Dirty Dom to continue that story thread and eventually set up Liv Morgan's return.
• McDonagh broke up the pin following the Phenomenal Forearm from Styles in a brilliantly timed near-fall.
• A fantastic match that featured a lightning-quick pace late and just enough chaos to keep fans guessing, this was a fantastic way to kick off the live, in-ring portion of this week's show. Where we go from here with Styles and Lee, and how The Judgment Day's loss affects the status of the group, should be fun to follow.

Intercontinental Championship: Dominik Mysterio vs. Rusev

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Last Time in Action: Dominik Mysterio defeated Penta (Raw, October 13); Rusev lost to Mysterio (Raw, September 29)

Three weeks after being cheated out of the Intercontinental Championship via textbook chicanery from Dominik Mysterio, Rusev again challenged for a title that has eluded him in his WWE career.

Like their first encounter, The Bulgarian Brute dominated the action, overwhelming the champion with his strength and fury. Mysterio mounted a comeback after the commercial but was unable to stop his relentless opponent. When he rolled to the outside and grabbed both his IC and AAA titles, Penta prevented him from doing so.

Mysterio again attempted to cheat, putting the bell hammer in his boot and attempting a 619. Rusev sniffed that out, however, but could not avoid the low blow. That set up the 619 and led to a frog splash as Dom again stole a victory from his challenger.

Result

Mysterio defeated Rusev to retain the title

Grade

C+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Backstage, The Usos talked about the Battle Royal, with Jimmy trying to convince Jey that Roman Reigns does not have all the answers. "You might be right," Jey responded. "Roman might be, too," he followed up. The Bloodline saga is about to be raging full force, pitting brothers against brothers, again.
• We really do not deserve Mysterio. He is as entertaining a wrestler as there is on WWE television right now. Just a hugely unlikable and, as a result, lovable bad guy. The match with Rusev is exactly what we thought it would be and somehow still great fun.

Women's Intercontinental Championship: Maxxine Dupri vs. Becky Lynch

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Last Time in Action: Maxxine Dupri defeated Becky Lynch via countout (Raw, October 6)

Embarrassed by her loss two weeks ago and fueled by the determination to right the last month of wrongs, women's intercontinental champion Becky Lynch took the fight to Dupri early and often Monday night, wearing her down during the commercial break.

The underdog babyface and Sacramento native Dupri fought her way back into the match, firing up and feeding off the crowd. She rocked Lynch with a big boot, then with a jumping knee.

She hit Lynch with a kick to the side of the head and applied an ankle lock to the roar of the crowd. The Man countered and applied the Disarmer, but Dupri fought out and reapplied the submission hold taught to her by Chad Gable.

Dupri launched herself off the top rope with a cross body block that earned her a two-count, then prevented Lynch from walking out with her title. A sunset flip followed for another near-fall before the champion hit her opponent in the face with the title.

Lynch beat down Dupri and walked out to a chorus of boos.

Result

Dupri defeated Lynch via disqualification

Grade

B

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Dupri has discovered herself between the ropes and, perhaps it was the guidance of Lynch, but she appears to be more confident than ever. She has breakout potential if WWE plays its cards correctly.
• Lynch and Dupri have tremendous chemistry and while it took a little longer for the fans to get into the action, they were strongly behind the babyface in the closing moments. Lynch's underhanded means of retaining her title likely means we will get one more match out of this pairing and it would not be surprising to see it take place at Saturday Night's Main Event or at Survivor Series.

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Roxanne Perez

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Last Time in Action: Stephanie Vaquer defeated Tiffany Stratton (Crown Jewel, October 11); Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez lost to Bayley and Lyra Valkyria (Raw, October 13)

Women's world champion Stephanie Vaquer sought to continue her recent winning ways as she squared off with Roxanne Perez in a non-title match Monday night.

La Primera overcame interference from Raquel Rodriguez heading into the break and mounted a comeback, wowing fans with the Devil's Kiss and then launching herself off the top rope and onto the Judgment Day members on the floor.

Back inside the squared circle, Vaquer downed Perez and scored the win.

After the match, the heels attacked the champion until Nikki Bella made the save, fending off Perez and Rodriguez alongside the victor and standing tall to close the segment out.

Result

Vaquer defeated Perez

Grade

C+

Top Moments and Takeaways

• Backstage, Pearce informed Heyman that Breakker and Reed were removed from the Battle Royal main event. From there, The Oracle was confronted by Lynch, who shook off his sales pitch for her to remain with The Vision, then warned that when Seth Rollins returns, he will take out his new charges. Not Heyman, though, because he does not matter to The Architect.
• The match between Vaquer and Perez was strong, as one would expect from the talent involved, but the commercial break ate away a large portion of the contest and hurt it. The return of Bella was interesting, but there is established friendship between she and Vaquer, so any tag team match between them and The Judgment Day makes sense.
• Backstage, Heyman answered Breakker and Reed's questions about being removed from the Battle Royal by telling them a story about Brock Lesnar, CM Punk and Roman Reigns, and how they all learned to listen to him to achieve the success they did.

Battle Royal to Determine CM Punk's Opponent at Saturday Night's Main Event

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Competitors included: Rusev, Ivar, Grayson Waller, Kofi Kingston, Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, Akira Tozawa, Otis, El Grande Americano, Penta, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, LA Knight, AJ Styles, Dragon Lee, and Sheamus

CM Punk joined Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett at the commentary position, scouting his potential opponents at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Otis, seeking a measure of revenge for the assault that sidelined him, paired off with Rusev but found himself eliminated in short order, followed by Alpha Academy teammate Tozawa.

The Judgment Day eliminated Lee for a modicum of revenge following the team's tag title loss earlier in the show, while Mysterio dumped Rusev and Penta off the apron for two eliminations.

Sheamus eliminated Ivar with White Noise on the ring apron and Jimmy Uso dumped Americano. Moments after The Celtic Warrior ousted them, Balor and McDonagh pulled him to the floor. On the other side of the ring, Styles tossed Mysterio to the floor.

Dirty Dom's elimination went undetected, though, allowing him to slide back into the squared circle and continue his pursuit of a win.

Late in the match, Jimmy Uso repeatedly saved his brother, helping Jey stave off elimination. When the time came for the former world champion to make a move, he tossed Jimmy and LA Knight to the arena floor, then sent Mysterio packing to earn the win and a match with Punk for the world title.

Result

Jey Uso won, last eliminating Mysterio

Grade

B

Top Moments and Takeaways

• "This guy's putting a submission on in a Battle Royal. Maybe I want him to win now," Punk said about Knight.
• Battle Royals are a tough sell most of the time, thanks in large part to the punch and kick-heavy nature of them. This did a good job of meshing ongoing storylines and teasing new rivalries along the way, making for a much more entertaining and fun version of this match than we are used to out of WWE.
• Jey showing his true colors, tossing Jimmy to the floor the moment he was no longer of use to him, is a textbook Reigns move and further demonstrated how much closer the former world champion is to becoming like his cousin.
• The visual of Jimmy watching from the floor as Jey came face-to-face with Punk could well foreshadow his involvement in the November 1 title match.

Overall Grade

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Raw continues to be the best television product in WWE each week.

The tag team title match was a great one that crowned new champions and set the tone for the rest of the show.

Mysterio successfully retaining against Rusev and finding a new way to cheat his way to victory was a ton of fun, and the women's division brought it again in two different matchups.

The high-stakes main event, set up by the opening promo segment, was a nice exclamation point on the show, while the latest in Jey Uso's reversion to the dark side wrote its latest chapter.

This was a great show, with storyline advancements, a couple of killer lines from Lynch to Heyman, and a meaningful main event that sets the stage for a huge prime-time special.

Grade: A