By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw (Episode 1,472)
Live from Orlando, Florida at Amway Center
Aired August 9, 2021 on USA Network
[Hour One] Randy Orton made his entrance. The broadcast team of Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton checked in, and Mike Rome served as the ring announcer. Orton said this is where he was supposed to say, “Welcome to Monday Night Raw.”
Riddle’s entrance theme played and he made his entrance on his scooter. “Randy, I missed you so much, bro,” Riddle said. “But, bro, where were you?” Riddle pondered where Orton was and then said he was just happy that he was back. He said it reminded him of when his stepdad went out for milk 25 years ago and never came back.
Riddle said they could team up and be RKBro again. Riddle led the crowd in a “Randy” chant. Orton asked what would make Riddle think he would want to team with him again. Orton said he works better by himself, and Riddle has done fine without his help and without his stepdad’s help. Riddle sadly asked if that means Orton doesn’t want to team with him. Orton said they were a good team.
Raw Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Omos made their entrance. Styles mocked the way that Riddle spoke to Orton. He said you could taste it and some would say it’s too sweet. Styles and Omos entered the ring. Styles brought up Orton’s nicknames and questioned if Riddle really thought Orton was going to be his friend.
Orton said the only thing bigger than Styles’ ego is “that jackass right there” in reference to Omos. Styles challenged Orton to face him in a singles match. Orton accepted the match and said he would give him a spoiler on how he would win. Orton went for the move, but Styles was knocked out of the ring.
Orton tried to perform the RKO on Omos, who shoved him off. Riddle struck the Viper’s Pose. When Omos turned around, Riddle went for an RKO, but Omos stuffed it and ended up chokeslamming Riddle. Omos smiled and cupped his ears for boos while Riddle rolled to the floor and ended up at Orton’s feet. “That wasn’t a smart move, was it?” asked Orton before walking away…
Powell’s POV: The Orton and Riddle chemistry was back. The live crowd was sympathetic to Riddle throughout the segment and really wants to see them together. It’s obviously no coincidence that the Raw Tag Champions showed up, so we clearly haven’t seen the last of Orton and Riddle as a team.
Highlights aired from last week of Drew McIntyre scaring away Jinder Mahal, Veer, and Shanky with his giant sword…
Baron Corbin was shown standing backstage when he was approached by Kevin Patrick, who asked him about facing McIntyre. Corbin recapped his recent down on his luck story that’s been playing out on Smackdown. Corbin said Jinder Mahal called him over the weekend and offered him a chance to turn it around. Corbin said he’s not thrilled about facing a man who could decapitate him, but it’s risk versus reward…
Powell’s POV: Decapitation would actually be a fitting end to Corbin’s storyline. Call me crazy, but something tells me they won’t be going there.
The broadcast team explained Corbin’s downfall as still images were shown of him losing his crown to Shinsuke Nakamura…
Backstage, Patrick interviewed McIntyre, who said he felt no sympathy for Corbin because he’s a terrible human being. McIntyre said his sword is named Angela after his late mother, who never complained during her cancer battle. McIntyre made his entrance and stuck the sword in the “stone” on the stage, then pulled it out and brought it to the ring with him…
1. Drew McIntyre vs. Baron Corbin. Corbin tried to talk down McIntyre, then took a swing that McIntyre ducked to start the match. Graves mentioned the brand-to-brand invitational that allows wrestlers to work on other brands four times each year. Jinder Mahal, Veer, and Shanky were shown watching the match on a backstage monitor. Both men ended up at ringside where McIntyre suplexed Corbin against the barricade heading into a break. [C]
McIntyre set up for a Claymore late in the match. Corbin begged for mercy. McIntyre got the house mic and told Corbin that he’s pathetic. He said he was starting to feel a little bad for him. McIntyre asked him how much money he needed to get by for a few days and to get a hot meal and a shower. Corbin asked for $100,000. McIntyre raised it to $200,000 and then $300,000 and then did his countdown. McIntyre put Corbin away with a Claymore Kick.
Drew McIntyre beat Baron Corbin in 9:50.
After the match, Jinder Mahal, Veer, and Shanky walked out. McIntyre picked up his sword and they all backed off…
Powell’s POV: I hope McIntyre forgets his sword at home one week so he can beat Mahal in a match and then move on. I get a kick out of the Corbin act, so this was actually a nice break from McIntyre facing Mahal and his henchmen.
Backstage, Riddle told Orton he hoped they could still be friends even if they weren’t tag partners. He said he bought him a scooter that was in the mail. Riddle said Orton couldn’t be serious. “I am serious and don’t call me bro,” Orton said. The fans booed…
Jeff Hardy made his entrance for a rematch with Karrion Kross… [C] Highlights aired of Hardy beating Kross while using the ropes for leverage three weeks ago… Kross made his entrance minus Scarlett…
2. NXT Champion Karrion Kross vs. Jeff Hardy in a non-title match. A pre-tape aired of Kross looking at an hourglass while stating that he’s been plotting the demise of Hardy ever since he ruined his Raw debut. The match spilled to ringside. Hardy ran and leapt off the ring steps and landed on Kross against the barricade. Back inside the ring, Hardy put Kross down and then went to the ropes, but Kross tripped him up. [C]
Hardy performed a second rope splash and got a two count. A short time later, Kross caught Hardy on the ropes and performed a Saito Suplex. Kross applied the Kross Jacket submission hold. Hardy tapped out.
NXT Champion Karrion Kross defeated Jeff Hardy in 8:00 in a non-title match.
After the match, Kross gave Hardy another Saito Suplex and reapplied his submission hold…
Powell’s POV: It was nice to see Hardy back after he missed some time following a bout with COVID-19. And while I would like to see WWE get more out of Hardy by giving him more wins and meaningful programs, Kross should never have lost to him in their first match given that he’s slated for a showdown match with Samoa Joe at Takeover 36.
Highlights aired of Tamina pinning Doudrop last week followed by Alexa Bliss taunting Eva Marie by calling her the loser of the match. They also showed footage of Doudrop hitting Bliss from behind followed by Lilly standing up on her own…
Birthday girl Alexa Bliss made her entrance along with Lilly, who has her own CGI graphic. Bliss placed the stupid doll in a corner of the ring while the broadcast team said Bliss would face Doudrop… An ad for NXT focused on Dakota Kai turning on Raquel Gonzalez, and Adam Cole appearing on Tuesday’s show, which will be back on USA Network after two weeks on Syfy… [C]
Smith touted that WWE has over 80 million YouTube subscribers… A video package aired on the Orton and Riddle relationship…
Riddle was interviewed by Kevin Patrick backstage. Riddle was sad about Orton not wanting him as a partner, a friend, or even in his corner for his match against Styles. Riddle said he has to let Orton do what Orton does. Riddle said he’s a stallion and he has to do what a stallion has to do. “And that’s ride, bro.” Riddle took off on his scooter…
[Hour Two] Eva Marie and Doudrop made their entrance…
3. Alexa Bliss (w/Lilly) vs. Doudrop (w/Eva Marie). Bliss positioned Lilly on top of one of the turnbuckles. Bliss put Doudrop down and then walked to ringside to mess with Eva. Doudrop rolled out and hit Bliss from behind. Doudrop ran Bliss into the barricade. Back inside the ring, Doudrop was in offensive control when she was distracted by Lilly winking at her. Bliss rolled up Doudrop and pinned her.
Alexa Bliss beat Doudrop in 3:30.
After the match, Eva was upset with Doudrop, who tried to explain that the doll winked at her…
Powell’s POV: This feud continues to be a mess. Eva doesn’t get much of a crowd reaction, and I’m still convinced that a lot of fans cheer for Bliss because they like her, not because they like her current persona. I wonder how many fans in the building were left confused by the made for TV production trick.
Highlights aired from last week of Damian Priest and Ricochet beating Sheamus and John Morrison…
The Miz and John Morrison spoke backstage. Miz was still in a wheelchair. Sheamus showed up with his face shield and accused Morrison of costing him their tag match. Morrison threatened to squirt him with a drip stick. Sheamus told Morrison that he better get the job done or he would be in for a hell of a drought. Sheamus made his entrance for a match against Ricochet…
An ad for Smackdown spotlighted the Seth Rollins and Edge feud and questioned how far they are willing to go. The ad also touted John Cena’s return to the Friday night show… [C] Imagery from the city of Orlando was shown… Ricochet made his entrance…
4. U.S. Champion Sheamus vs. Ricochet in a non-title match. Graves and Saxton bickered over whether it was classless of Ricochet to target Sheamus’s broken nose. Sheamus ended up at ringside. Ricochet performed a springboard dive onto Sheamus, causing both men to tumble over the broadcast table. [C]
Ricochet performed a springboard moonsault for a near fall. Ricochet went for a move from the middle rope, but Sheamus headbutted him with the face shield. Sheamus followed up with a Brogue Kick and scored the pin.
U.S. Champion Sheamus defeated Ricochet in 10:35 in a non-title match.
Powell’s POV: An entertaining match with Ricochet getting plenty of flashy offense before Sheamus used his face shield to steal the win.
As Sheamus was celebrating his win, Damian Priest made his entrance. Priest entered the ring and went face to face with Sheamus, who ended up backing down and leaving the ring. When Priest turned his back, Sheamus charged him, but Priest saw him coming and dumped him over the top rope. John Morrison and The Miz made their entrance… [C]
5. Damian Priest vs. John Morrison (w/The Miz). Morrison performed a nice corkscrew dive onto Priest on the floor. Back inside the ring, Priest set up for a move and was sprayed by Miz. He performed The Reckoning anyway and scored the pin…
Damian Priest beat John Morrison in 4:00.
After the match, Priest went to ringside and backed Miz against the ring steps. Morrison went after Priest, who punched him out. Priest sprayed Morrison with several drip sticks, then grabbed Miz by the collar. Miz shoved him and stood up and ended up running away.
Priest got a microphone and started to talk about Sheamus, who came out and told him that if he had something to say, he should say it to his face. Priest said Sheamus is a bully, and he would deal with him like he’s dealt with every other bully in his life.
Priest challenged Sheamus to defend the U.S. Title against him at SummerSlam. Sheamus said he might be a bully and he might like it. Sheamus said he doesn’t care what Priest or the people think. He accepted Priest’s challenge and told him he better be ready for the fight of his life. Morrison tried to attack Priest from behind, but Priest turned and gave him a Brogue Kick, then told Sheamus, “That’s gonna be you at SummerSlam”…
Powell’s POV: There was a lot going on there. It felt odd that Priest essentially forced Miz’s character to reveal that he was faking his injury (even though it was legit at one time) and then say nothing about it during his promo. I actually thought he was going to challenge Miz to a match for next week, but he ended up challenging Sheamus for SummerSlam.
Footage aired from last week of Mace and T-Bar beating Mansoor and Mustafa Ali…
Backstage, Mansoor apologized to Ali for screwing up last week. He said he bought him a ring jacket to make up for it. Ali said it was amazing. He told Mansoor he didn’t need an apology, he needs him to learn from his mistakes when he makes them. Ali told Mansoor that he needed to watch and learn…
T-Bar made his entrance with Mace for a match against Ali… [C] The broadcast team touted that Reggie has over 33 million Tik Tok views for his entrance…
Powell’s POV: Well, I guess that means we can expect to see a lot more of Reggie.
A Mace and T-Bar promo aired. They are at the top of the food chain while Mansoor and Ali are at the bottom. They said size matters. Ali and Mansoor made their entrance…
6. Mustafa Ali (w/Mansoor) vs. T-Bar (w/Mace). Mansoor performed an early dive onto T-Bar at ringside. T-Bar rolled through and ended up swinging Ali into the barricade in a cool spot. Back inside the ring, T-Bar threw a spin kick that led to a two count. T-Bar followed up moments later with a chokeslam, but Ali put his foot on the bottom rope to break the count. Mace took out Mansoor on the floor.
Ali rallied with a tornado DDT. Ali went up top, but T-Bar kicked his feet out from under him. T-Bar hit his now unnamed Feast Your Eyes finisher and scored the pin.
T-Bar defeated Mustafa Ali in 3:05.
Afterward, Mace and T-Bar set up for a double chokeslam on Ali, but Mansoor broke it up with a top rope dive. Ali cleared both heels to ringside…
Powell’s POV: The company’s stubbornness over these bad Mace and T-Bar gimmicks continue to waste what they have in Dominik Dijakovic.
Reggie was posing at a photo shoot. A delivery man showed up. Shockingly, it was Akira Tozawa, and he tried and failed to roll up Reggie. R-Truth showed up in a janitor’s outfit and went after Reggie, who use his acrobatics to get away from both challengers. Truth and Tozawa blamed each other for Reggie escaping with the title…
Bobby Lashley was hyped as appearing after the break… [C] The broadcast team congratulated John Cena for the Suicide Squad premiering first at the box office, as well as The Rock’s Jungle Cruise finishing second at the box office…
[Hour Three] AJ Styles and Omos were interviewed by Kevin Patrick in the backstage area. Styles said they would break Orton and put him back on the sidelines for good…
WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and MVP made their entrance. There were some Goldberg chants. MVP said there are false narratives being spun. He said Goldberg could have fought Lashley when he issued the challenge, but he left the ring and speared him instead. MVP recalled telling Goldberg’s son that if his father showed up at SummerSlam then his career was over.
MVP said being speared by Goldberg is like being run over by a truck. He claimed to have four bruised and two cracked ribs. He said the only thing more devastating than a Goldberg spear is a Lashley spear. There were some “what?” taunts. MVP tried to talk over them by not pausing.
MVP looked into the camera and told Goldberg’s son Gage to convince his father not to show up for SummerSlam. MVP said Lashley will end Goldberg’s career. He said the upside is that Goldberg can go to all of Gage’s games and they can reminisce about the time he didn’t care enough about him to stop him from facing Lashley at SummerSlam.
Lashley took the mic and told Goldberg not to let his son watch their SummerSlam match because of what he intends to do to the legend. Lashley said Goldberg isn’t next, he’s done…
Powell’s POV: The live crowd seems to be getting a little restless. I can’t blame them. The show hasn’t been terrible, but it has felt repetitive as they stretch out the usual feuds.
A video package recapped Nikki ASH beating Charlotte Flair last week…
Rhea Ripley was shown walking backstage when Sarah Schreiber approached her and asked her about facing Nikki ASH. Ripley gave ASH credit for beating Flair. Ripley said she’s handled herself well as an almost superhero, but almost isn’t good enough to remain the champion. She spoke of needing to have a dark side in order to keep the title and she hasn’t seen that from ASH. Ripley made her entrance for her match against ASH… [C]
The broadcast team praised Titus O’Neil’s foundation for handing out 30,000 backpacks with school supplies inside…
Nikki ASH was interviewed by Schreiber on the new Gorilla Position set. She had her ribs wrapped and delivered the now usual lines about believing in yourself. She said she knew Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley would be dangerous. ASH said she didn’t almost beat Flair last week, she did beat her. She said she’s almost positive that she would beat Ripley. ASH said the deck is stacked against her, but she will do whatever it takes to keep her title at SummerSlam. ASH made her entrance…
7. Raw Women’s Champion Nikki ASH vs. Rhea Ripley in a non-title match match. ASH sold her rib injury, allowing Ripley to be the early aggressor. They ended up at ringside where Ripley popped up ASH and dropped her so that her ribs landed on the edge of the apron. [C]
Ripley continued to dominate. She went for her finisher, but ASH countered the move and landed on top of her, which led to a near fall. A short time later, ASH went up top, but Charlotte Flair appeared and pushed her down for the apparent no-contest.
Raw Women’s Champion Nikki ASH fought Rhea Ripley to an apparent no-contest in 9:30 in a non-title match.
After the match, Flair attacked ASH and Ripley. Flair held up the Raw Women’s Championship belt and then dropped it on ASH…
Saxton hyped the Orton vs. Styles main event… [C]
Powell’s POV: The crowd was quiet, presumably not really knowing who to root for given that both women received favorable reactions earlier. If the ASH character is meant for kids, then why does she continue to have her matches during the final hour of Raw? Unless I missed it, it seems like the company has already scrapped the “Championship Contenders Match” slogan. They haven’t been saying “non-title match” either, so they appear to just be dancing around describing the, well, non-title matches.
A vignette aired with Elias approaching a bonfire with his guitar over his shoulder. Footage aired of people hitting him with guitars. Elias strummed the guitar and then dropped it into the fire. In a voiceover, Elias said WWE stood for Walk With Elias, but Elias is dead…
Powell’s POV: I don’t know where it’s going, but I’m happy to see Elias is finally ditching the wannabe musician act.
Backstage, Schreiber had to act like a moron while asking Flair why she attacked ASH and Ripley. Flair said that if both women were on her level, they would have anticipated her attack. She said she showed a little empathy last week and now people are acting like one loss erases every victory. She said nothing would stop her from walking out of SummerSlam as the Raw Women’s Champion…
In another part of the backstage area, Kevin Patrick asked Randy Orton why he was distancing himself from Riddle. He said he doesn’t need friendships to beat AJ Styles, he would do it all by himself…
Orton made his entrance, which now includes a super cheesy CGI viper… [C] AJ Styles and Omos made their entrance coming out of the break…
8. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles (w/Omos). They match spilled over to ringside. Orton slammed Styles’ head on the broadcast table and then had a staredown with Omos. Styles tried to hit Orton from behind, but Orton saw it coming. Orton went back to staring at Omos, and then Styles took advantage of the distraction heading into the final break. [C]
Late in the match, Orton struck the Viper’s Pose while Styles was down. Omos pulled Styles out of harm’s way. Orton jawed at Omos, who removed his jacket and asked Orton if he wanted some. Styles took advantage of the distraction. Riddle ran out and ran Omos into the ring post and then put him in a sleeper, but Omos backed into the other post to break it. In the ring, Styles went for his Phenomenal Forearm finisher, but Orton caught him with the RKO on the way down and then pinned him.
Randy Orton defeated AJ Styles in 11:20.
After the match, Riddle entered the ring and was barked at by Orton for not staying backstage. Orton started to leave. Riddle told Orton to listen to the people. Orton returned to the ring and hugged a smiling Riddle, then let Riddle raise his arm. Orton motioned for Riddle to raise his arm for another side of the building, then gave Riddle an RKO and smiled while he knelt over him. Graves called it vintage Orton, then Saxton said he thinks Orton and Riddle are back together…
Powell’s POV: The strange thing is that I think Saxton is right, as I still expect to see Orton and Riddle challenge Styles and Omos for the Raw Tag Titles at SummerSlam. I like that they made viewers wait for that confirmation for a week. The segments with Orton and Riddle were definitely the highlights of this plodding episode.
Overall, they filled the time with the usual characters, mostly working against their usual adversaries. That’s to be expected to some extent on a penultimate show before a pay-per-view, but most of it feels so formula and forgettable. I will be back shortly with my weekly same night Raw audio review for Dot Net Members. Let me know what you thought of the show by grading it below.
Orton’s new facial hair makes him look like a slim EC3
“MVP said being spread by Goldberg is like being run over by a truck”
OHHHHHH MY! – George Takei
We are 28 weeks away from the 1500th episode of Raw and you know what that means… More old people! Anyway, did Riddle’s stepdad walk out on him because he (Riddle) was annoying or because Riddle’s mom is just as annoying.
The next time Jinder tries to steal Drew’s silly sword he better make sure it’s the real one and he should burn Drew’s skirt while he’s at it. Piper was the only one who managed to look cool in a kilt. Drew used to look badass in his coat before he started cosplaying as William Wallace and telling ridiculous folktales.
The brand to brand invitation states that only four crossovers are allowed per year, soon it’s gonna be four per show without any explanation whatsoever. Let’s not bullshit ourselves and just says the wildcard rule is in effect yet again.
So how many times are we gonna watch Damien Priest hit Morrison with the “Mia Yim” and next week it’s Miz again. By the way, there are two guys milking an injury on the same show. Speaking of Mia Yim, where is she anyway, perhaps she already made the list… of cuts… talent cuts.
“Powell’s POV: Decapitation would actually be a fitting end to Corbin’s storyline…”
A few lines down:
I get a kick out of the Corbin act, so this was actually a nice break from McIntyre facing Mahal and his henchmen.”
So which is it? Because you say you don’t like it, but then you do like it?
Is Raw that bad you can’t remember what you wrote?
I do get a kick out of the character. But the story is that the character is down on his luck and things keep getting worse. So if things were to keep getting worse, then decapitation would be a fitting end.
I can’t even be bothered to forward this awful show after it records anymore. It takes less time to read these write-ups to get the jist that we’ve watched the same show the last two months in a row. What a snooze-fest Summerslam is going to be.
It baffles me that this show is so bad and Smackdown is actually pretty good. The only thing I can think of is Fox is demanding a certain standard for WWE that USA isn’t.