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WWE RAW had a big episode last week where we saw a lot of action take place both inside and outside the ring. RETRIBUTION made its first impact during the show, while Shane McMahon unveiled RAW Underground to light up the brand.
This week’s show played host to two big matches - one between Asuka and SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley, with The Empress desperate for a shot at the RAW Women’s Championship at WWE SummerSlam. The other match saw Randy Orton take on Kevin Owens.
The show opened up with a big contract signing for WWE SummerSlam as the match between Seth Rollins and Dominik Mysterio was made official. They'll face each other at the Biggest Party of the Summer in a No Disqualification Match.
R-Truth won back the 24/7 Championship during the night, while Shayna Baszler ripped through anyone she could find on RAW Underground.
RAW managed to get a few things right on a loaded show this week, and we will take a look at the 5 things WWE got right on RAW during the show.
#5 Angelo Dawkins and Bianca Belair silence the heels on WWE RAW
During a match on WWE RAW last week, Montez Ford was left unable to compete after he collapsed and passed out. It was later revealed that the RAW Superstar had been poisoned and that led to him passing out during the match against Andrade.
While Bianca Belair suspected that Zelina Vega had something to do with this, Vega made it clear that she did not poison Ford.
This week, Angelo Dawkins competed against El Idolo and managed to dominate proceedings for the most part. However, Andrade’s singles experience helped him deal with the larger Superstar.
While Vega tried to interfere in the match, Belair took her out and allowed Dawkins to pick up a surprise victory.
After the match, Belair took on Vega in one-on-one action. Vega was the quicker Superstar, but Belair’s strength allowed her to take Vega down easily and drop her with a few big moves before setting up the KOD for the victory.
The EST then warned Vega and claimed that she would face much worse if she repeated her actions again. This was a good segment and both the matches worked out well.
While it was surprising to see Dawkins defeat Andrade, it’s no secret that the creatives are high on The Street Profits.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Vega was actually behind the poisoning of Ford or whether RAW will reveal some other Superstar or tag team as the culprits.
#4 WWE RAW Underground starts building up
Last week, Shane McMahon made a big announcement on WWE RAW and revealed the newest segment for the Red brand called RAW Underground. The WWE Universe saw several wrestlers compete in a ropeless ring where the fights were short yet brutal.
This week, the second night of RAW Underground returned as fans were a bit more aware of what to expect from the segment. This allowed us to get a better understanding of what WWE was trying to push to the fans.
Riddick Moss had his first match on WWE RAW in months and managed to defeat Cal Bloom to make an impact. Arturo Ruas was unveiled to a greater audience as the Brazilian Superstar tore through his opponent.
Dabba-Kato continued to leave a lasting impression, but it was the former NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler who made the maximum impact. She stood up to Kato before McMahon told them to back off.
No woman wanted to fight Baszler so she attacked everyone around before making one talent tap out to the Kirifuda Clutch.
This was a good way to build up RAW Underground further as lesser-known talent such as Dabba-Kato and Ruas got a chance to shine, while Moss received some screentime again. Baszler’s appearance during the segment could actually open up a lot of opportunities.
#3 Asuka picks up a win on RAW to punch her ticket to WWE SummerSlam
This was arguably the biggest match scheduled for this week’s WWE RAW. Asuka had the chance of punching her ticket to WWE SummerSlam for a shot at Sasha Banks' RAW Women’s Championship, only if she could defeat Bayley this week.
Asuka was aggressive from the opening bell and the two women traded the action as the lights in the arena continued to flicker.
The Boss, who was present at ringside, tried her best to distract the referee so Bayley could get in a few cheap shots on The Empress. Bayley went after the legs of Asuka to slow her down and try to eliminate the Asuka Lock from her arsenal.
While The Role Model had control of the match, she took too long mocking Kairi Sane and allowed The Empress to catch her in the Asuka Lock to make her tap out.
This was a big victory for Asuka over the SmackDown Women’s Champion who had been causing a lot of difficulties for her. While The Empress was simply handed the RAW Women’s Championship after her Money in the Bank victory by Becky Lynch, she will have to be at her absolute best to regain it by defeating Banks at WWE SummerSlam.
#2 Dominik Mysterio becomes a WWE Superstar
WWE RAW opened up with a big segment as Samoa Joe introduced Seth Rollins and Dominik Mysterio for a contract signing for their scheduled match at WWE SummerSlam.
While the Monday Night Messiah trash-talked, Joe looked to keep him in check and called him out for turning against the WWE Universe.
Rollins then turned his attention to Dominik and told him that he should be grateful to The Messiah of RAW for agreeing to a No Disqualification Match as he would never last in a regular match.
Dominik officially became a WWE Superstar with the contract signing and he also signed the contract for his debut match for the company. After the signing, Rollins took on Humberto Carrillo in a match.
While Carrillo looked to do some damage to the former WWE Universal Champion, Rollins made quick work of the Mexican Superstar to set an example.
After the match, Murphy attacked Dominik, and the two heels trapped the son of Mysterio in the ropes. Rollins and Murphy then continued to strike the newcomer with Kendo Sticks as the entire WWE Universe watched on.
Dominik was left with welts all over his upper body, as he finally realized what it feels like to be the underdog in a big rivalry in WWE.
This segment perfectly builds up towards Dominik’s first match in WWE, even though it came at the cost of the talented Carrillo. Dominik will likely come back stronger. Since he has been positioned as the underdog like his father always has been, it will allow him to make a big impact at WWE SummerSlam.
#1 The Legend Killer lives up to his moniker on WWE RAW once again
The final segment of the night saw Randy Orton come out for his match against Kevin Owens with ‘The Nature Boy’ Ric Flair by his side. The match had been booked after Flair and KO had a backstage segment last week on WWE RAW, where Flair had told KO to be more like Orton.
While The Prizefighter was determined to show the premier heel what he can do in the ring, The Viper got out with a thumb to the eye.
Orton then continued the assault on KO and injured him before dropping him on the announce table. However, KO continued to fight and tried to pick up the victory with a Stunner, but The Viper turned it around into an RKO which allowed him to pick up the victory.
After the match, The Viper told Flair to stay in the ring as he had something to say. He called his mentor a liability and claimed that Flair's ego forced him into a match against KO this week.
The Nature Boy defended himself by saying that he wanted to see Orton break his 16-time World Championship record, and not John Cena. While it seemed like the two men had made up, The Viper struck once again and he delivered a low blow to Flair and followed it up with The Punt.
Drew McIntyre ran in for the save, but he was too late as Orton was done taking down the biggest legend of them all and left another mark on WWE RAW.
This was a great way to build more heat around Orton while writing off Flair from RAW. This feud has slowly become one of the best things on RAW!
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