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Randy Orton kicked off RAW and reminded us of last week's showdown with Edge. He said that Edge didn't accept his challenge because he was filled with fear and doubt. Edge came out and said that this was all fun and games to Randy who had a lot of potential but never took his career seriously unlike himself. Randy taunted him for wasting his time and demanded an answer before Edge yelled that he accepted the challenge.
Seth Rollins was backstage and told Murphy that he had seen the light before they walked out to the ring. He spoke about how he lost everything after being beaten by Drew McIntyre and thanks to Rey Mysterio, he found himself again.
He told Rey that it was a blessing in disguise before Humberto Carrillo interrupted him to defend 'la Familia'. Seth said if Humberto was looking for a fight on RAW, it better be with Murphy because Rollins was not in wrestling gear.
Humberto Carrillo vs. Murphy
The match began off-air and Carrillo was dominating as we returned from the break but Murphy dropped him from the top rope. They traded stiff kicks and Murphy was sent outside for a huge dive.
Rollins gave Carrillo a stare from ringside, distracting him as Murphy hit the Murphy's Law for the easy win on RAW.
Result: Murphy def. Humberto Carrillo
Post-match, Rollins & Murphy were attacking Carrillo near the steel steps before Aleister Black came out and fought them off, making the save.
Match rating: B
Backstage, King Corbin threw a fit on RAW about not being treated like a king and was telling the referee what to do in the match tonight.
Liv Morgan was talking about her mom and how she taught her to never give up. Liv was determined to become RAW Women's champ one day.
Charlotte was out and recapped her promo from SmackDown and said she was excited for the match with Bayley before calling out Ruby Riott to speak her mind on RAW.
Charlotte vs. Ruby Riott
We returned from a break to see them in a match and Riott was sent into the ring post before using the ropes to choke Riott. Ruby managed to get a near fall before she locked in a submission but failed to hold on it.
Charlotte stomped Riott a number of times before Riott was hit with a big boot for a near fall. Charlotte dodged the Riott kick, locking in the Figure Eight for the quick win on RAW.
Result: Charlotte def. Ruby Riott
Match rating: B
Backstage, MVP told Lashley that he was not trying to get between him and Lana before making his sneaky sales pitch about 'freeing himself'.
The Street Profits were in the woods for an axe throwing contest on RAW and The Viking Raiders had a gift for them. It was a campfire, with smoke, you know...because they wanted the smoke.
Kairi Sane was out to celebrate Asuka and her newly won RAW Women's title, which now made her a Grand Slam Champion. Asuka did a little dance and Kairi played a flute before Nia Jax came out to crash the party.
Jax said Asuka was a 'temp' and would be replaced by someone better soon enough. Asuka attacked Nia and kicked her down before taking her out with the hip attack.
King Corbin was backstage and said he was going to beat Drew McIntyre tonight while the champ was watching from the lockers on RAW.
R-Truth was out and spoke about Lashley being a bad man, and that his childhood hero John Cena would never back down to a man like that. He told 'Tom Brady' to look out for him after he was done with Lashley on RAW.
Bobby Lashley vs. R-Truth
Truth used his Pretty Ricky persona to confuse Lashley and get some good hits in before being picked up and sent into the steel post. Lashley was messing with Truth and slapped him in the face before hitting the full Nelson slam. He then locked in the Full Nelson again to make Truth tap out.
Result: Bobby Lashley vs. R-Truth
MVP was watching Lashley from the entrance ramp and clapped for him after the match. Lana, on the other hand, was losing her mind backstage on RAW.
Match rating: C
The Kabuki Warriors were still in high spirits backstage on RAW but Nia was creeping right around the corner.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. the IIconics - Women's Tag Title match
The returning IIconics looked to regain their tag title from Bliss & Cross and made fun of them before the match on RAW. Kay and Bliss were in the ring as the match started and Royce tagged in early while Bliss was holding her own.
Kay and Cross were legal shortly after and Cross was dominating the match. Kay got a near fall and was yelling at the ref before Bliss came in and hit the Twisted Bliss. Royce broke the pin and started to bash Alexa's head on the ring posts. The referee warned her but she kept going, earning a DQ for her team.
Result: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross def. the IIconics via DQ and retained the Women's Tag titles
Match rating: A
Backstage, Kairi was playing music on the flute when Nia jumped her from behind and took her out. Asuka found out and after the break, grabbed Nia by the ponytail and beat her down.
The IIconics were furious with tonight's result on RAW and Bille Kay slapped Royce for costing them the match. The duo would then reconcile.
Shayna Baszler vs. Natalya - Submission match
Shayna started off strong on RAW but Natalya went for the Sharpshooter early on before Shayna found the ropes. Baszler broke out of the hold and went into the ankle lock. Natalya was furious after another failed Sharpshooter and got on top of Baszler with huge strikes and then a kneebar. Baszler locked in the Khirifuda clutch out of nowhere and made Natalya tap out for the win on RAW.
Result: Shayna Baszler def. Natalya
Match rating: A
The RAW crew was setting up for the KO show but Natalya trashed the set, clearly angry from the loss.
Andrade, Garza, and Theory were fighting at the top of their lungs before Vega shut them up.
Kevin Owens was back and the so was the KO Show as he called out Vega, Andrade, Garza & Theory. Owens was on the apron as Vega gave a monologue about how her team was perfectly fine and not at each other's throats. KO said they weren't the only guests on the show before Apollo Crews rushed them and he and KO teamed up to fight the heel trio.
Andrade & Angel Garza vs. Kevin Owens & Apollo Crews
Apollo and Garza started us off on RAW and Owens tagged in early on, taunting Andrade to join in. Andrade got the tag and sparred with KO in the corner before eating a clothesline. Apollo hit a spinebuster after tagging in before Vega ran a distraction. Austin Theory was meant to hit Apollo but his elbow landed on Garza instead before Crews got the win.
Result: Kevin Owens & Apollo Crews def. Andrade & Angel Garza
After the match, Andrade and Garza attacked Theory and nearly killed him on the outside. Safe to say, he was kicked out of the heels' club.
Match rating: B+
Backstage on RAW, Drew McIntyre said he had a special 'Claymore fit for a King' from Baron tonight.
Back to the ax-throwing contest on RAW, the Vikings were nailing every shot while Montez missed the target by a good few miles. Dawkins hit a barrel of grog by accident, pissing off the folks who were out there with them. It later turned out they had managed to hit a passing cop car as well.
Murphy vs. Aleister Black
Murphy came out of the gate swinging for the fences but was taken down with a huge kick. Outside the ring, Austin Theory was still recovering and Seth Rollins reached his hand out and picked him up before sending him to interrupt the match on RAW.
Theory earned Murphy a DQ but they attacked Aleister and Theory laid him out with the ATL before Rollins gave him a hug.
Result: Aleister Black def. Murphy via DQ
Match rating: C
Backstage on RAW, Apollo was being threatened by Vega but Crews was not going to back down.
The cops let the Vikings go because Ivar was 'cute'.
MVP and Bobby Lashley came out on RAW and said they had a 'special interest' in the match. Lashley said he was coming for Drew's title before the match started.
Drew McIntyre vs. Baron Corbin
Corbin had the advantage early on RAW and kept leaving the ring to evade the Claymores while taking cheap shots at the champ. Corbin tried to choke Drew with the ropes before they locked up on the top turnbuckle for a huge superplex that ended in a one count.
McIntyre hit a huge suplex and then a spinebuster for a near fall. Drew hit the Futureshock DDT but missed the Claymore. Drew kicked out of the Deep Six and reversed the following move into the Glasgow kiss before picking up the win with a Claymore.
Result: Drew McIntyre def. Baron Corbin
Match rating: A
Episode rating: B
This was a big episode of RAW with Owen's return, Theory joining Rollins' cult and Nia Jax & Asuka's feud kicking off. The Women's tag match and the main event stole the show while Owens' return match was a close second.
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