WWE Raw Ratings Increase with Orton vs. Owens, Raw Underground and Retribution

The television ratings for WWE's flagship show increased as Raw averaged 1.722 million viewers on Monday night, according to Showbuzz Daily.

That represents a small rise compared to the Aug. 3 installment, which drew 1.714 million viewers for what proved to be the debut of Raw Underground.

Randy Orton battled Kevin Owens in the main event. The Viper countered out of an attempted Stunner by Owens and landed an RKO for the victory. The biggest drama came after the match as Orton confronted former Evolution stablemate Ric Flair after Flair inadvertently talked Owens into challenging Orton last week.

Orton delivered a low blow to Flair before landing a punt to The Nature Boy's head.

Clearly nothing is more important for Orton than his quest for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam.

Elsewhere on Raw, Raw Underground entered into its second week and saw a cameo from former NXT women's champion Shayna Baszler. The concept is perfectly suited for Baszler, once a UFC fighter, and this could be a way for her to do something interesting away from the Raw women's title picture.

Little remains known about Retribution, Raw's newest stable.

Last week, Retribution set fire to a generator outside of the WWE Performance Center. On Monday, they threw two cinderblocks through a Performance Center window and apparently tipped over a vehicle in the parking lot.

The identity of the individual members remains unknown, and their goals remain equally unclear beyond causing general disruption. By escalating their actions, perhaps they can provide some insight into their motivations.

Dominik Mysterio is headed for his first official WWE match against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam.

Mysterio got the better of Rollins last week when he attacked The Monday Night Messiah and Murphy with a kendo stick. The gravity of what he has gotten into became apparent on Raw, though.

Rollins and Mysterio held a formal contract signing, which surprisingly didn't devolve into a physical confrontation. After Rollins' victory over Humberto Carrillo, though, Murphy went after Mysterio to trigger a prolonged beatdown. By the time all was said and done, a bruised Mysterio showed the effects of multiple kendo stick shots.

If he's on his own, Mysterio might not stand much of a chance against Rollins—and Murphy.