By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw (Episode 1,474)
Live from San Diego, California at Pechanga Arena
Aired August 23, 2021 on USA Network
[Hour One] Raw opened with a SummerSlam video package… Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, and Byron Saxton were on commentary, and Mike Rome was the ring announcer…
WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and MVP made their entrance. Highlights aired of Lashley beating Goldberg and putting his son Gage in the Hurt Lock. MVP said they knew about Goldberg’s history and not so great recent history. MVP said Goldberg is still a powerhouse and a worthy challenger.
MVP spoke about how Goldberg looked amazing at SummerSlam. He said there were a few times when Goldberg even backed up Lashley. MVP said it only caused Lashley to become more angry, which made him stronger, which Goldberg found out the hard way. MVP said Lashley beat the holy hell out of Goldberg.
MVP said Goldberg literally didn’t have a leg to stand on. MVP said Goldberg quit and that makes him a coward. A light Goldberg chant broke out. MVP recalled Gage attacking Lashley from behind. He said Lashley did what he would do to anyone who jumped him from behind when he put Gage in the Hurt Lock.
MVP said Lashley would do the same thing to any of the fans in San Diego, but they didn’t have to worry about it because they are all cowards. MVP brought up people thinking Lashley would apologize. “You can go to hell,” Lashley said to those expecting an apology.
New National, er, U.S. Champion Damian Priest made his entrance. Priest took issue with MVP and Lashley calling Goldberg a coward and the fans cowards. He insulted Lashley in Spanish, then challenged Lashley to a match on Raw. Priest said that if Lashley didn’t accept the challenge, then he’s the coward.
Lashley attacked Priest, who eventually fought back and cleared him from the ring with a big boot. MVP held Lashley back at ringside. MVP said that Priest asked for it, and he’s got it. MVP said Lashley would get ready. A graphic listed the match as coming up next… [C]
Powell’s POV: A good opening segment that set up a fresh match. the reaction to Priest’s entrance was underwhelming, but the crowd was responsive to his promo. There was no mention of either title being on the line, so I assume it’s a champion vs. champion non-title match.
An NXT ad focussed on the fallout from NXT Takeover 36 while showing some clips from last night’s event… Lashley made another entrance…
1. WWE Champion Bobby Lashley (w/MVP) vs. U.S. Champion Damian Priest in a non-title match. Lashley jumped out to a quick start, but Priest came back and knocked him down with a clothesline. As Priest was waiting for Lashley to stand up, Sheamus ran in and attacked him to end the match.
Bobby Lashley fought Damian Priest to an apparent no-contest in 1:30.
Drew McIntyre ran out and took out Sheamus at ringside, then fought Lashley and clotheslined him over the top rope. Priest clotheslined Sheamus over the ringside barricade. McIntyre suplexed Lashley on the floor and then suplexed him onto the broadcast table… [C]
Powell’s POV: I can live with the cheap finish, but I was hoping to see more of Lashley vs. Priest in the singles match. Obviously, we’ll be seeing more of them in a tag team match. And before anyone cries foul, the stipulation is that McIntyre can’t challenge for the WWE Championship while Lashley holds it, but there’s nothing preventing physicality between them in non-title matches.
2. Bobby Lashley (w/MVP) and Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest. The match was joined in progress. Lashley put Priest on his shoulders at ringside and then ran him into the ring post. Lashley repeated the move on Priest heading into a break. [C]
Priest was isolated by the heels. He eventually made a hot tag to McIntyre, who worked over Lashley. McIntyre did the countdown for his finisher, but he had to fight off Sheamus. Lashley recovered and tagged out. Sheamus performed White Noise from the middle rope on McIntyre for a near fall.
McIntyre ducked a Brogue Kick. Sheamus hoisted up McIntyre, but Priest tagged himself in. Priest knocked Lashley off the apron and then ran into a knee strike from Sheamus. Lashley and MVP walked out on Sheamus. McIntyre tagged in and put Sheamus away with a Claymore Kick.
Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest beat Bobby Lashley and Sheamus.
After the match, Lashley and MVP stood on the stage while Priest glared at them from ringside…
Powell’s POV: A strong tag team match. The four wrestlers and MVP ate up over 40 minutes of the show in an entertaining manner.
The broadcast team recapped Alexa Bliss beating Eva Marie and the post match bit with Doudrop…
Backstage, Sarah Schreiber interviewed Doudrop. She she said that Eva thought she was putting her down by giving her the name Doudrop, but she likes the name and is keeping it. She said she would drop Eva the next time she sees her. Eva attacked Doudrop and left her lying…
Powell’s POV: It’s bad enough when someone else names you Doudrop, but it’s even worse when your character chooses to keep it.
Karrion Kross made his entrance while the broadcast team hyped his match against Ricochet for after the break… [C] More footage aired from SummerSlam…
3. Karrion Kross vs. Ricochet. Kross added some gladiator garb to his in-ring wardrobe. Ricochet got a couple of shots in, but Kross came right back with a clothesline. Kross powerbombed Ricochet, then powered him up and dropped him with a Doomsday Suplex. Kross applied the Kross Jacket and got the submission win…
Karrion Kross beat Ricochet in 1:30.
Powell’s POV: I’m not a fan of Kross’s new look. And I still have no idea why they felt compelled to call him up to endure parity booking before he dropped the NXT Championship to Samoa Joe. While this match obviously wasn’t good for Ricochet, it was a good, decisive win for Kross.
Footage aired from SummerSlam of Schreiber blowing of her interview with Baron Corbin to interview Big E. Logan Paul showed up and had a moment with Big E, who made his exit. Corbin asked Schreiber why she stopped interviewing him. Paul said it might be because Corbin is an asshole (censored)…
Logan Paul was shown hanging out backstage with The Viking Raiders… John Morrison made his entrance for Moist TV… [C]
Backstage, Sheamus confronted Lashley about walking out on him during their tag match. Lashley told him to deal with it or else. Sheamus continued to jaw at Lashley until MVP got between them…
John Morrison hosted Moist TV in the ring and introduced Logan Paul, who came out to boos from the crowd. Graves sang the praises of Paul by asking if there’s anything he can’t do.
[Hour Two] The fans booed Paul as the segment got underway inside the ring. Paul told them that they don’t love him yet, but he loves them. Morrison brought up the Logan and Jake Paul’s boxing careers and said people want to know what’s next for them. More boos.
The Miz made his entrance and said Morrison forgot to introduce him and everyone knows he’s Paul’s favorite superstar. Paul said he’s more of a New Day fan. Logan spoke about his brother fighting Tyron Woodley in Cleveland and said it was going to be fun. Miz barked at the booing crowd to show Logan some respect.
After a big buildup, Miz asked Logan what round his brother was going to get knocked out in. The fans cheered the question. Logan went face to face with Miz, who told him he better get out of his face. “Or what?” Paul asked.
Morrison interjected and said something about how everyone wanted to see Miz get his ass kicked. Miz took offense. Logan Paul made his exit, telling Miz and Morrison that he was going to let them do their thing. Miz blamed Morrison for Paul leaving. Morrison said Miz made the interview about himself. Miz said all the water stuff has been about Morrison. Morrison brought up Miz faking his injury.
Xavier Woods made his entrance and had a moment with Logan Paul on the stage. Woods headed to the ring while Paul headed to the back. The broadcast team hyped Woods vs. Miz for after the break… [C] An ad for Smackdown focused on Brock Lesnar and Becky Lynch…
Powell’s POV: Smackdown gets Lesnar and Lynch, while Raw gets, um, I’m not sure. The celebrity that WWE tried to feature as a babyface just got the most heat of anyone on the show. You can’t make it up. I was surprised that the WWE crowd didn’t turn on Logan Paul during his previous appearances. After all, the gimmick is that most people order the Logan Paul and Jake Paul fights with the hope of seeing them get knocked out.
Last week’s Elias vignette was replayed…
4. Xavier Woods vs. The Miz (w/John Morrison). The broadcast team recapped Woods spraying Miz and Morrison with the Drip Stick 2000 at SummerSlam. Woods was dumped to ringside. Morrison got the mat near a ring post wet. Miz tried to run Woods into that puddle, but Woods reversed it and sent Miz sliding through the puddle and into the ring steps. [C]
Woods, who was wearing his Razor Ramon themed tights, performed a top rope cross body block for a near fall. Miz came back and set up for his finisher. Morrison climbed onto the apron and shot a drip stick, which both wrestlers ducked. Miz rolled up Woods and had him pinned, but the referee was busy with Morrison. Moments later, Woods caught Miz in an inside cradle and scored the pin.
Xavier Woods beat The Miz in 11:40.
After the match, Miz glared at Morrison, who tried to clown around with him. Morrison brought the drip sticks inside the ring. Miz took one and sprayed it into the air, then violently attacked Morrison. Miz eventually put him down with a Skull Crushing Finale…
Powell’s POV: A great babyface turn for Miz for finally attacking the dorky drip obsessed Morrison! Wait, Morrison is the babyface? I’m all for something new with Miz and Morrison, but I suspect that we’ll be getting even more “moist” themed silliness from Morrison now that he’s the babyface.
Highlights aired from SummerSlam of Charlotte Flair beating Nikki ASH and Rhea Ripley to win the Raw Women’s Championship…
Footage aired from earlier in the day of Rhea Ripley arriving at the building. Nikki Cross approached her and asked her to be her partner against Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. Ripley said beating the hell out of Jax and Baszler would be a nice consolation prize…
The broadcast team hyped the women’s tag match and another Reggie title defense… [C] Additional SummerSlam clips were shown…
Footage aired from “earlier today” of Reggie talking about how he couldn’t afford anything from the ice cream truck when he was a kid. He said when he could round up change, bullies from the neighborhood would snatch it up quick. He said he had to be quick on his feet. R-Truth snuck up behind him in his bush outfit and Akira Tozawa emerged from a trashcan next to an ice cream truck. Reggie gave them the ice cream cones that he bought and ran away. Truth and Tozawa chased reggie, who climbed a tree and then bounce off a trampoline that wasn’t shown and onto the roof of the ice cream truck. Reggie did a flip off the truck and ended up climbing inside before it drove away. Truth and Tozawa bickered at one another…
Powell’s POV: Who knew Reggie was the kid that Eddie Murphy taunted because he couldn’t afford ice cream because he was on the welfare and his father was an alcoholic? Wanna lick, Reggie? Psych!
Clips aired of Randy Orton and Riddle winning the Raw Tag Titles at SummerSlam… Backstage, Riddle told Orton he would love the celebration he had planned. Orton said he’s not big on surprises or celebrations and asked him not to do anything stupid…
Jinder Mahal made his entrance with Veer and Shanky for a match against Mansoor… [C] Mansoor and Mustafa Ali made their entrance…
5. Jinder Mahal (w/Veer, Shanky) vs. Mansoor (w/Mustafa Ali). A pre-tape aired prior to the match that showed Mansoor asking Ali not to get involved in the match because he wanted to win the right way. Mahal ended up putting the boots to Mansoor in the corner and blew off the referee’s five count for the DQ finish.
Mansoor defeated Jinder Mahal by DQ in 2:20.
Afterward, Ali watched as Mahal continued to attack Mansoor. Ali turned his back away from the ring for a moment, then entered the ring after Mahal and his crew went to ringside. Ali told Mansoor that they need to do things his way…
Powell’s POV: Has it ever ended well for a babyface who asks his friends not to get involved no matter what happens? This was actually a fairly tame compared to the way these things usually play out.
Backstage, Damian Priest thanked Drew McIntyre for having his back. McIntyre said there was a little something in it for him too. He congratulated Priest for beating Sheamus. Priest said he’s dreamt of winning the U.S. Title since he was a kid and it feels like he’s living a dream. McIntyre recalled all the pints that he and Sheamus used to drink in San Diego. He told Priest that he was taking him out to see if he could measure up and the first pint was on him…
New Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair made her entrance in non-wrestling attire… [C] Smith touted the SummerSlam attendance as being 51,326…
Flair delivered a gloating in-ring promo regarding her twelfth championship win. She ran through her list of titles without mentioning her NXT title reigns. She said she was surprised that the fans haven’t made a statue of her. She said she doesn’t need friends and emphasized that she doesn’t need family. Flair added that she doesn’t need fans. Flair held up the title belt and said it’s all she needs.
Flair’s music played and a little pyro shot off. Flair wasn’t finished. She boasted about again about being the Raw Women’s Champion. Flair said she was there to restore order and it’s time that a real woman held the title.
[Hour Three] Flair said she’s not messing around anymore. She said she started the first women’s evolution and now she’s starting a new one. She told the fans they could thank her now or later, but they shouldn’t forget to bow. “Long live the queen,” Flair closed.
Alexa Bliss’s music played and she walked onto the stage carrying the Lilly doll. “Congratulations, Charlotte,” Bliss said. “Lilly and I just wanted to say hi.” Bliss’s music played while she had a long distance staredown with Flair…
Powell’s POV: Oh, no. Flair finished working with the almost superhero and is moving on to working with Lady Fiend and her possessed doll. Yikes.
Backstage, Baszler asked Jax if she wanted to team with her or Flair. Jax said she saw an opportunity and she took it, but then she did all the work and Flair stole the glory. Baszler said that’s what she gets for teaming with someone else. Baszler said they butt heads a lot, but nobody beats them when they’re on the same page. Baszler said she wanted to go out and show that they are the unstoppable force. Jax agreed…
Nikki ASH made her entrance for the tag match… [C]
The latest Elias vignette aired. He was shown walking outside and served as his own narrator. He said that before WWE stood for Walk With Elias, it stood for World Wrestling Entertainment. Elias said he conquered entertainment, but that’s not why he came to WWE. Elias said he was there to conquer wrestling and become a champion. He said once he does that, he can conquer the world. “From the ashes comes opportunity,” Elias said as he was shown kneeling next to his tombstone. “The old Elias is dead. Long live Elias, the WWE Superstar.” Elias put a white hat on and walked away from his tombstone…
Powell’s POV: So Elias is dead, but he’s still Elias and he’s actually alive and now wears a white hat. Got that?
6. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler vs. Rhea Ripley and Nikki ASH. Ripley’s entrance and the entrance of Jax and Baszler were televised. Baszler targeted the arm of ASH and then tagged in Jax, who hoisted up ASH. Baszler ran over and tripped Ripley, causing her to tumble off the apron. Jax dropped ASH, then Baszler blasted her with a knee to the head. [C]
Late in the match, Ripley performed a missile dropkick on Baszler and covered her. Jax tried to break it up, but Ripley moved, causing Jax to land on Baszler. Ripley sent Jax to ringside. ASH dove from the top rope onto Jax on the floor. In the ring, Ripley hit the Riptide on Baszler and pinned her…
Rhea Ripley and Nikki ASH beat Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler in 10:15.
Powell’s POV: A crowd pleasing tag match. The broadcast team made a fuss over Jax and Baszler having more issues, so the big split is coming soon.
Footage aired of Miz turning on John Morrison. Saxton said they’ve been one of the “greatest tag teams of all-time” and added that it’s surreal to see Miz sever ties with Morrison…
Backstage, Morrison said no more Miz and Morrison, nor more Miz TV, no more Dirt Sheet, no more music videos. Morrison said he would end it next week when he gets “that double-crossing son of a bitch in the ring”…
Powell’s POV: More of that Morrison, please. The promo was basic, but it was nice to see him do something other than cornball humor.
Riddle made his entrance for the RKBro Championship Celebration segment… [C] Charlotte Flair, Damian Priest, and Jinder Mahal were announced as the guests for Raw Talk…
Riddle stood in the ring, which had balloons attached to the ring posts, and spoke about the “wild ride” that RKBro has been on. Riddle introduced Randy Orton, who made his entrance. Mike Rome introduced the duo and then a barrage of pyro shot off on the stage. Riddle was giddy. Riddle gifted Orton a scooter with his name on it and purple tassels on the handlebars. Riddle showed Orton how to open and close the scooter.
AJ Styles made his entrance and was followed onto the stage by Omos. Styles pointed out that Orton didn’t give Riddle a gift or even a hug. Styles said he had a Phenomenal Forearm that he would give to Riddle. He said he would beat him just as he has every time they’ve been in the ring together. Styles said he would keep beating Riddle until he Omos got their rematch for the Raw Tag Titles. Styles vs. Riddle was hyped for after the break. [C]
More clips were shown from SummerSlam… Bobby Lashley vs. Sheamus in a non-title match, Eva Marie vs. Doudrop, and The Miz vs. John Morrison were announced for next week’s Raw…
Powell’s POV: It’s nice to see WWE is actually able to advertise a few matches a week in advance. Of course, there’s no telling whether they will actually deliver those matches as advertised, but hopefully this is a sign that they will do less booking on the fly.
7. Riddle (w/Randy Orton) vs. AJ Styles (w/Omos). Riddle went for an early triangle, but Styles powered him up. Styles and Riddle both tumbled over the top rope to ringside heading into a break. [C]
Late in the match, Styles applied a Calf Crusher. Riddle countered into a Bromission. Styles rolled onto him and got a two count to break the hold. Riddle blasted Styles with a high knee. Riddle motioned to Orton that what he was about to do was for him, and Orton was fired up about it.
Riddle went up top and became distracted by Omos standing there just as he did the week before. Styles knocked Riddle off the ropes. Orton ran over and was roughed up by Omos. In the ring, Styles picked up a near fall. Styles set up for a Styles Clash, but he lost focus because Orton attacked Omos with the scooter that Riddle gave him. Riddle hit Styles with a knee to the head and followed up with a Bro Derek before pinning him.
Riddle defeated AJ Styles in 13:30.
After the match, Orton dropped Styles with an RKO…
Powell’s POV: A well worked main event. I’m not really sure why Riddle gets distracted by Omos just standing there, but at least it didn’t cost him another match. Orton beating Omos with the scooter was solid. None of this left me anxious to see Styles and Omos get a rematch, but there’s plenty of time to build that up.
Overall, it comes down to what your expectations were going in. If you were expecting a big night after SummerSlam with surprises or NXT call-ups, then this had to be a disappointing show. I didn’t my hopes up and it turned out to be just a regular edition of Raw. It wasn’t a bad episode, but there was nothing particularly memorable about it. I will be back shortly with my weekly same night audio review of Raw for Dot Net Members. Let me know what you thought of the show by grading it below.
Join John Moore for his live review of NXT on Tuesday night.
Giving them money to watch them getting knocked out is like buying the I h8 Cena shirt. Showing them up by paying them some of your money. I prefer to read if they lost, for free. It loses none of it’s cathartic quality.
Agreed. I had no illusions of a big surprise or a big NXT debut because…who? Now, if they handled Kross properly over the past month, this would have been a perfect time to debut him. Before someone says “Adam Cole,” it would indeed be quite a shock if he stayed in WWE. To be exact, not having him on RAW is further confirmation to me that he is as good as gone.
The show itself was OK for what it was. The in-ring action was solid for weekly TV. The promos were fine.
But there is a general lack of a true reset. Charlotte – Alexa is fine but hardly an earth-shattering feud. I can only imagine what their Extreme Rules stipulation might be. Unlike Roman Reigns, they don’t have a steady stream of challengers to throw at Charlotte. Someone needs to be built up. Dakota Kai would be a personal pick,
I kinda was hoping for Dakota to show up.
“Powell’s POV: Oh, no. Flair finished working with the almost superhero and is moving on to working with Lady Fiend and her possessed doll. Yikes.
CHEERS Lady Fiend and Lilly. Retired Undertaker could have returned said congrats to Flair then tombstone her just for hell of it for old times sake. to give fans nostalga touch.
Bazler and Ajax split coming soon then come Draft time they can hopefully send her to Smackdown.
I’m not a Karrion Kross fan and I nearly pissed myself laughing when I saw how Vince dressed him up tonight. I wonder what HHH and Kross thought. No wonder Cole isn’t sticking around. I sure as hell wouldn’t.