By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw on the USA Network
Aired live on August 5, 2019 from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at PPG Paints Arena
[Hour One] Raw opened with the wrestlers standing on the stage. The big screen featured a “We Stand With You” logo. Ring announcer Mike Rome asked for a moment of silence for a ten bell salute for the shooting victims in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio… The Raw opening aired…
Samoa Joe stood on the broadcast table and told the team of Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Renee Young asked if they saw him anywhere near Roman Reigns (at Tuesday’s Smackdown). Cole said they are live. Graves said Joe has to understand why people think he may have had something to do with it.
Cole said there was a poll that showed 80 percent of fans think that what happened wasn’t an accident. Joe said 80 percent of the fans are idiots (more like 81 percent). Joe had a recap video of the scaffolding falling onto Reigns at the end of Smackdown.
Joe mocked how many cameras were present and noted that there’s no proof of him being the culprit. Joe said his name has been besmirched by being labeled a suspect. Joe said he’s waiting until Reigns arrives and will demand the apology he deserves. Joe started to say that “if anyone has a problem” when he was interrupted.
Becky Lynch’s entrance music interrupted Joe and she made her entrance to the tag match. Lynch was followed by Charlotte Flair and then their opponents while the broadcast team hyped previously advertised segments and a four-way WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match featuring The IIconics defending against The Kabuki Warriors, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose, and Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. Trish Stratus was the final entrant and received a respectful ovation heading into a commercial break… [C]
Powell’s POV: Joe did a terrific job on the mic, as always. It was nice to hear him talk about something other than how bad ass he is only to have him booked to lose. The company is desperate for meaningful heels and he and Drew McIntyre are two heels who strike me as the best candidates to build up in a meaningful way.
1. Trish Stratus and Natalya vs. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. Before the match, Cole noted that the Becky Lynch vs. Natalya match will now be a submission match. Graves and Young played up Natalya being trained in the Hart Dungeon and later working out with Ronda Rousey. Natalya applied an early armbar, but Lynch rolled her into a pin to break it. Charlotte Flair tagged herself in (and it looked like Lynch tagged her too) and worked over Natalya with chops while the crowd woooed.
A short time later, Flair caught Natalya with a big boot to the face and then turned and glared at Stratus, who smirked in response. Charlotte worked over Natalya for a long stretch. Lynch tagged herself in. Flair hit Lynch from behind with a forearm and then walked out on her. Natalya tackled Lynch and put her in the Sharpshooter. Lynch screamed in agony and reached the ropes. Natalya ignored the referee’s five count and was disqualified.
Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair beat Trish Stratus and Natalya by DQ in 7:40.
After the match, Trish entered the ring and tried to pull Natalya off. Natalya released the Sharpshooter on Lynch and shoved Stratus into the corner. Natalya left the ring while Trish looked surprised and then checked on Lynch, who sold the effects of the Sharpshooter…
Rey Mysterio was shown walking backstage while Cole hyped his match with Andrade as coming up next… [C]
Powell’s POV: Clever strategy of having Trish in the match without having her actually do anything. They did a good job of putting some heat on Natalya and making her look like a threat to Lynch while also having Flair stay true to her character by stabbing Lynch in the back.
The broadcast team touted that they were in Pittsburgh while artwork of the city was shown…
2. Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade (w/Zelina Vega). Mysterio flung Andrade to ringside and then performed a slide from the ring and onto Andrade for a sunset flip bomb that sent Andrade into the barricade. Cool move. [C]
Mysterio performed a sunset bomb in the ring for a near fall. Andrade came back with an elbow to the head of Mysterio. Andrade went to the ropes, but Mysterio followed. Andrade knocked Mysterio into a tree of woe and then double stomped him from the top rope for a near fall. Mysterio rallied with a crucifix bomb for a near fall of his own.
Andrade caught Mysterio going for a huracanrana and tossed him across the ring powerbomb style. Andrade followed up with double knees in the corner for a two count. Mysterio came back with a Canadian Destroyer, then followed up with the 619. Mysterio went up top and performed a splash, but Mysterio put his knees up and covered Mysterio for a two count.
Andrade picked up Mysterio, who caught him in an inside cradle for a two count. Andrade came back with a powerbomb. Andrade tore at the mask of Mysterio. As the referee was scolding Andrade, Vega climbed onto the apron and clotheslined him over the middle rope. Andrade hit the hammerlock DDT finisher and scored the pin…
Andrade defeated Rey Mysterio in 12:25.
Powell’s POV: Another really fun match from Andrade and Mysterio. Andrade is another top notch heel that the company should be building up. This is a nice win for him, but history suggests he’ll follow this with a loss to Mysterio. And that would be okay if they actually have a storyline in place and perhaps Andrade wins the feud.
The broadcast team set up a video package of last week’s WWE 24/7 Championship developments, including Maria Kanellis winning the championship…
Footage aired from 2pm today of Maria and Mike Kanellis at the OB GYN appointment. Maria carried on in the lobby about being a champion and told Mike that he had to protect her and the unborn baby. Mike said he wouldn’t let her down… [C]
Powell’s POV: Holy cheap ass sets, Batman. This looked nothing like an actual doctor’s office and it appeared as though they ended up hanging a large purple canvas to use as a wall.
After the break, Maria was wearing a hospital gown and lying on a table of the office. Mike hugged her and suddenly the doctor turned around and counted to three on his back, making Mike Kanellis the new WWE 24/7 Champion. The doctor turned out to be a female WWE referee. Mike went to the lobby with the title. R-Truth was dressed in drag and Carmella was there with him. R-Truth quickly pinned Mike to become the new WWE 24/7 Champion…
Charly Caruso congratulated the 11-time champion R-Truth for winning the title, then interviewed Becky Lynch on the backstage interview set. Lynch said when she was changing the business, Natalya was on a reality show changing her bikini. Lynch said that when she was on top of a building with a broken face and blood pouring out, Natalya was on instagram trying to perfect her duck face. Lynch said she’s going to give Natalya’s people in Toronto a new hero…
Sarah Schreiber interviewed Natalya in another part of the backstage area. Natalya said there will be a huge celebration in Canada. She said Lynch can’t break her arm and she’s not going to tap. She said she’ll use the Sharpshooter to become the new Raw Women’s Champion…
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman were shown walking backstage… [C] An ad hyped NXT Takeover: Toronto for Saturday…
Brock Lesnar’s entrance music played and the WWE Universal Champion headed to the ring along with Paul Heyman. The broadcast team noted that Seth Rollins vowed via social media that he will be in Toronto on Sunday. Heyman delivered his self introduction.
[Hour Two] Heyman mocked the idea of Rollins being the guy who was supposed to burn down Suplex City. Heyman set up a video package that showed Lesnar destroying Rollins on last week’s Raw. Back live, Lesnar laughed as the video concluded. Heyman said he dropped to his knees and asked The Beast to show a semblance of mercy on Rollins because WWE needs a new hero.
Heyman conceded that what Lesnar did to Rollins was borderline criminal. Heyman said he received word that Rollins was in Pittsburgh. There were some cheers. Heyman said he didn’t know why fans would cheer someone willing to go down in a blaze of glory. Heyman said Rollins had more balls than brains.
Seth Rollins’ entrance music played. Rollins limped onto the stage and carried a chair with him. Lesnar smirked while Heyman held up the title belt as Rollins slowly made his way to ringside. Heyman stood on the apron while Lesnar motioned for Rollins to bring it.
Rollins entered the ring with the chair while the broadcast team questioned his judgement. Rollins ran at Lesnar, who kicked him in the ribs and knocked him down. Lesnar stood on the chair as Rollins tried to pick it up. Lesnar took the chair and beat Rollins with it. Lesnar picked up Rollins and drove him back first into a corner of the ring. Rollins crawled toward Lesnar, who picked him up and repeated the move.
Lesnar ripped the t-shirt off of Rollins to reveal that his ribs were wrapped. Rollins got to his fee and Lesnar shoved him into the corner. Heyman asked Rollins what the hell is wrong with him. Lesnar hoisted up Rollins and gave him an F5. Lesnar took the title belt from Heyman and then raised it into the air while standing over Rollins… [C]
Powell’s POV: Is Seth becoming the Tommy Dreamer character? They still have a the better part of two hours to push this match, but what they’ve done has not excited me and feels too similar to the build to their WrestleMania match. By the way, the updated dark matches being advertised for the August 19 Raw are The OC vs. Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, and Ricochet, and Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss in a Triple Threat for the Raw Women’s Championship. These matches probably won’t take place as advertised, but at least the ad is more enticing than the Rollins vs. Baron Corbin match they previously advertised.
An ad for Smackdown focused on Shane McMahon appearing on Kevin Owens’ The KO Show, and Kofi Kingston responding to Randy Orton’s comments from last week…
Rollins was still in the ring while two referees encouraged him to get up so they could get him checked out by the medical staff. Rollins took the mic and said that it’s gotten to the point where he’s had to ask himself if all this is worth it. “You know you love something so much, you’d do anything to protect it, even if the thing you love keeps getting you beaten to a pulp inside and out week after week after week. Some fans gave him the What? treatment.
“For me the answer is yes,” Rollins said. “This is all I am, every second of every day, this is all I’ve ever wanted and this is all I’ve got. I’ll be at SummerSlam and I’ll beat Brock Lesnar. I guarantee it.” Rollins dropped the mic and crawled out of the ring while a “Burn It Down” chant started and faded. Rollins could be heard telling the referees not to bring out a stretcher. Rollins used the barricade initially and then slowly walked up the ramp while EMTs pushed a stretcher behind him…
Powell’s POV: Meh. I hope they have something better in mind than Rollins punching Lesnar in the balls again.
Caruso interviewed Kurt Angle and noted that he’s the special referee of the Cedric Alexander vs. Drew McIntyre match. Angle said it was great to be back in his hometown. The Street Profits interrupted with a “USA” chant. They introduced themselves to Angle and plugged their NXT Tag Title defense for Takerover on Saturday.
The Street Profits hummed Angle’s theme song and pulled out red party cups and some milk from a cooler. Angle interrupted and said he promised his wife that he wouldn’t do anything crazy. They pressured Angle into drinking milk with them, but the party stopped when they noticed Drew McIntyre standing behind them.
McIntyre told Angle to remember what happened when he humbled him by tapping him out to an ankle lock during their last in-ring meeting. McIntyre told Angle not to step out of line or he would take his boot and crack Angle’s skull with it…
3. “The Viking Raiders” Erik and Ivar vs. Jay Alexander and Idris Abraham. Graves said a hush had come over the arena as the fans witnessed the brutality. Ivar performed a top rope splash on Abraham, then he and Erik hit the Viking Experience on Alexander, which led to the pinfall…
The Viking Raiders beat Jay Alexander and Idris Abraham in 1:20.
Powell’s POV: Even Graves is acknowledging how quiet the live crowds are during the Viking Raiders’ matches. This just isn’t going well for them.
Cole acknowledged the death of Harley Race while a batch of social media posts from various WWE personnel was shown. Cole said they would pay their respects to one of the greatest of all-time after the break… [C]
A Harley Race graphic was shown. The broadcast team stood at their desk. Cole recalled the first time he met the legend, Race put him in a headlock and told him, “That’s what I do, kid.” Cole set up a video package on Race. The fans applauded after the video and a “Harley” chant broke out briefly…
Powell’s POV: A nice video package that focused more on Race outside WWE than of his days as The King character.
Kurt Angle made his entrance dressed in a referee shirt. Cedric Alexander made his entrance, but Drew McIntyre came out and attacked him from behind before he could make it to the ring. Alexander came back by kicking McIntyre face first into the ring post. Alexander leapt off the barricade and performed a tornado DDT on the floor.
Bray Wyatt’s “The Fiend” entrance lighting flashed. The Fiend showed up inside the ring and put Angle in the Mandible Claw while Cole recalled him doing the same thing to Mick Foley…
Powell’s POV: I should have seen that coming, but it never even crossed my mind. I wish the creative forces would have done more to put over the attack on Foley. They didn’t make a big fuss over it the following week and thus The Fiend’s latest attack on a legend doesn’t feel as significant as it should.
Cole touted Titus O’Neil’s annual back to school bash in Tampa…
4. Smackdown Tag Champions Big E and Xavier Woods vs. Raw Tag Champions Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson (w/AJ Styles) in a non-title match. Cole pointed out that Gallows was wearing face paint. He said Gallows wore the face paint in Japan and feels it gives him a bit of an edge. The bell rang and The OC trio attacked the New Day members and were quickly disqualified for Styles interfering.
Big E and Xavier Woods beat Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson by DQ in 0:25 in a non-title match.
Graves said he didn’t believe Kofi Kingston was in Pittsburgh. Ricochet came out and helped the New Day duo clear the ring heading into the break…
Powell’s POV: I wish NFL teams would adopt The OC’s strategy of taking quick and intentional DQ losses during preseason games. So, um, what do you guys think will happen with these two teams of three coming out of the commercial break?
5. Ricochet, Big E, and Xavier Woods vs. “The OC” AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson. Cole announced that the match had been restarted as a six-man tag match during the break. Holy shit!!! The match was joined in progress. Late in the match, Styles tripped Woods from the floor and then Woods stumbled into a DDT from Anderson. Gallows and Anderson followed up with a Magic Killer on Woods and then Gallows pinned him…
The OC defeated Ricochet, Big E, and Xavier Woods.
Powell’s POV: The formula of predictably converting matches to tag team or six-man tag team matches is so tired that it actually hurts matches that may have been well received had they just been billed from the start as what they ended up being.
Young hyped the four-way elimination match for the WWE Women’s Tag Titles, and Graves hyped the contract signing for Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz including Shawn Michaels for later in the show…
A man told Samoa Joe that Roman Reigns is on his way to the arena. Joe said Raw is now officially shutdown. Cole said Joe was headed to the ring to demand an apology from Reigns…
More love was shown for the city of Pittsburgh, then a video package recapped the bad Roman Reigns angle that closed Smackdown.
[Hour Three] Samoa Joe made his entrance and called for Reigns to come out and apologize to him. “Fine, we’ll play it your way, Roman,” Joe said before dropping the mic. Joe went to ringside, grabbed a chair, and set it up in the middle of the ring. Joe said Raw was shut down until Reigns came out and apologized to him in person. Joe gave Reigns until the count of three to come out and apologized. Joe counted down. Nothing happened.
Joe told Reigns to walk that aisle unless he’s scared. Joe told the fans that it was Roman’s fault. A CM Punk chant broke out. A crew member told Joe that Reigns had arrived in the parking lot. Joe said he was impatient and so he would go there to greet Reigns.
Joe went to the parking lot and jawed at Reigns as he pulled up in his car. Suddenly, a car with tinted windows drove into the picture. Reigns dove into the front seat of his car while the other car slammed into the back half of his car… [C]
Powell’s POV: Why is Reigns arriving to Raw with less than an hour remaining? Why did Joe assume that Reigns was near the building when the guy backstage simply told him that he was on his way to the building? Why did it sound like they turned up the crowd mix volume when the CM Punk chant broke out? Is Rikishi the mystery driver again? Or maybe Rikishi taught his sons The Usos how to do a bad hit and run storyline? Is Reigns going to have a SummerSlam match or will they go with the hook that the mystery attacker will be revealed at SummerSlam instead?
The angle was replayed and showed that the driver of the car that struck Reigns’s car sped away. Joe opened the passenger’s side door of Roman’s car and told him to stay down, then called for a medic. Reigns held his hip and then his neck or shoulder poorly. Triple H and Jamie Noble showed up, and Hunter checked on Reigns…
Cole said it was pretty clear after this development that what happened last week was also deliberate. They broadcast team awkwardly transitioned into gleefully hyping the SummerSlam matches…
Ring entrances for the WWE Women’s Tag Title match took place… [C]
6. “The IIconics” Peyton Royce and Billie Kay vs. “The Kabuki Warriors” Asuka and Kari Sane (w/Paige) vs. “Fire & Desire” Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville vs. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in an elimination match for the WWE Women’s Tag Titles. Mike Rome delivered in-ring introductions for the title match. Mike Rome delivered in-ring introductions for the title match. The three opposing teams had to stand still while The IIconics performed mostly slow motion offense on them or simply walked over to their corners and pushed teams off the apron. Rose ended up pinning Kay off a leaping knee to eliminate the IIconics. The broadcast team touted that new champions were guaranteed. [C]
The match was restarted coming out of the break so that Vince McMahon can save face while they slowly do away his stupid edict prohibiting wrestling during commercial breaks (just pretend you don’t notice and it will fade away sooner). There was a clunky exchange between Rose and Asuka, then Rose tapped to an Asuka submission hold heading into another break. [C]
This time the match was rejoined in progress with Asuka and Cross in the ring. Cross and Bliss isolated Asuka for a stretch. Asuka eventually made a hot tag to Sane, who then worked over Bliss and hit her with a sliding forearm in the corner. Asuka tagged in again and ended up applying the Asuka Lock on Bliss, who rolled onto her for a two count.
Bliss charged at Asuka, who knocked her down with a kick. Sane tagged in and went up top, but the idiot referee got tied up with Asuka, allowing Cross to stop Sane from performing the move. A short time later, Bliss dropped Sane with a bad punch, then performed Twisted Bliss and pinned her…
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross defeated The IIconics, The Kabuki Warriors, and Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville in an elimination match to win the WWE Women’s Tag Titles.
Powell’s POV: A rough match, but I like the end result of putting the tag titles on the fun Bliss and Cross team.
The broadcast team set up a recap of the Lesnar and Rollins angle. Graves asked what would be left of Rollins when he faces Lesnar on Sunday…
The Miz made his entrance for the Miz TV contract signing segment. The broadcast team hyped the WWE 2K20 video game for October 22 and set up a trailer for the game… [C]
Cole hyped The Day of Raw Reunion special debuting on WWE Network immediately after Raw…
The Miz stood in the ring and introduced Shawn Michaels, who came out wearing his NXT hat. Fans chanted “HBK” once his music stopped playing. Miz introduced Dolph Ziggler as the pariah of WWE. Ziggler came out to the worst entrance theme in the history of WWE and perhaps all of professional wrestling.
Ziggler said he’d rather be a pariah than kissing ass like Miz and Michaels. Ziggler claimed he’d been carrying the company on his back for years even when he wasn’t supposed to. Ziggler said that when he wins at SummerSlam, he will finally get the adulation and appreciation that he deserves for being a living, breathing legend. Fans kinda booed. Ziggler signed the contract.
Miz said that Ziggler wants adulation and appreciation, but it’s not the fans or the legends, it’s Ziggler. Miz said he can’t wait to get his hands on Ziggler next week on Raw. Ziggler looked surprised. Miz said Ziggler didn’t read the fine print. Miz said he has plenty of SummerSlam moments ahead, but the guy that Ziggler will face may not have many left. Miz said Ziggler will face someone else, then looked at Michaels. “Well, Dolph, it’s not me,” Michaels said.
Goldberg chants started and then Goldberg’s entrance music played. “Oh, my, he’s here,” Cole said. Goldberg walked to the ring while Cole recalled Ziggler talking smack about him over the last few weeks. Ziggler went to ringside. Goldberg looked to the crowd and was cheered when his music stopped playing. Goldberg signed the contract while the fans chanted his name. “Dolph Ziggler, guess what, son?” Goldberg asked. “You’re next.” Ziggler walked up the ramp and was surprised with a Sweet Chin Music superkick from Michaels to end the show…
Powell’s POV: A good final hook for SummerSlam. The live crowd seemed fully aware that it was Goldberg as the word leaked and it’s been pretty obvious he was going to pop up again at some point due to the way Ziggler started badmouthing him out of the blue. But I like the way they did this in the final segment on the go-home show. It’s good use of both men and it creates a little late buzz for a pay-per-view that needs it. For that matter, this show dragged and it needed a good closing moment. I will have more to say in my weekly members’ exclusive Raw audio review coming up later tonight.
Maybe we should stop criticising WWE for leaning on legends at the expense of younger stars – crowds get what they deserve. That crowd contributed nothing except obnoxious CM Punk chants all night, and then the one thing they get excited about is a 50-something guy who couldn’t really wrestle in his heyday, let alone now, and who has just had one of the worst matches in WWE history. No wonder Vince keeps turning to the ‘legends’ if crowds won’t react to anything else.
Thought it was Vince’s fault for not building new stars.
Keep in mind, Sid was cheered when he debuted in ECW.
For some odd reason I felt that Seth Rollins’ character would actually be smarter than to just charge at Lesnar. I was thinking maybe, he’d convince Lesnar that this was his intention and then have a bucket of shit drop from the ceiling onto Lesnar’s head or something of the like.