WWE Monday Night Raw Results And Review (8/24): Matches Set For ‘Payback,’ Keith Lee Makes Debut, And More

Monday Night Raw

This edition of Monday Night Raw took place for the first time in the ThunderDome at the Amway Center in Orlando Florida. It was the fallout show from SummerSlam and the go home show for WWE Payback this Sunday. Plus, it was the debut of now former NXT Champion  Keith Lee.

Drew McIntyre opened the show as he came out to the ring. He welcomed everyone to the first Raw taking place at WWE ThunderDome. He said he is hungrier than Randy and worked harder than him. He said he is proud to be WWE Champion. Drew talked about how Randy has been coddled his entire career. He said he was that much better than Randy at SummerSlam. He said he beat Randy with a wrestling maneuver which makes him the greatest wrestler. He claimed that if anybody would want to step up to him he will give them the Claymore Kick. As Drew was walking to the stage, Randy Orton came from behind, attacking Drew. They brawled to the back until officials came to try to separate them. Orton punted Drew as he had a clear shot on him. Officials backed Orton away but Randy was able to punt Drew again. Officials finally got Randy away from Drew and tended to Drew. Drew shoved them off, saying that he is fine.

Nia Jax was interviewed as she walked backstage, asking what she was doing here after being suspended. Nia said she has been reinstated and apologized to Pat Buck. She scared the interviewer away as she screamed the word apologized. Shayna interrupted her saying people are counting down the moment she gets suspended again. Nia sarcastically said if Shayna needs help with her match against Bayley to give her a call. Shayna insults Nia on her figure and Nia calls her a Addams Family reject. Shayna welcomes her back.

Shayna Baszler Defeated Bayley By DQ

Nia Jax attacked Shayna as Bayley and Sasha watch on. Bayley and Sasha cheer Nia on but then Nia and Shayna turned their attention to them. Bayley and Sasha backed away from them.

Review: The match was okay. It was obvious once Nia came out there that she was going to attack Shayna. I find it odd that they would just stop beating each other up because Bayley and Sasha were cheering it on. This is supposed to be a heated rivalry but I don’t see why Nia has to stop the beat down to turn her attention to Sasha and Bayley.

Kevin Owens went to Aleister Black’s locker room. He opened the door, asking Black if he is going to come on the KO Show. Black didn’t respond and Kevin said he’ll see him out there.

Kevin Owens was in the ring for the KO Show. He welcomes everyone to the KO Show shown at the WWE ThunderDome for the first time. Kevin brought out Aleister Black to the ring. Black came out with a bandage around his eye. Kevin said he’s concerned about what happened to him and asked how his eye is. Black asked to roll the footage of what happened to Black. They show it. Kevin said Seth has a habit of getting in people’s heads like his head. Kevin said he’s here to help him. Black suddenly starts kneeling down in pain holding his eye. Kevin asked for help but then Black nailed him with a swinging back elbow and Black Mass.

Charly Caruso came up to Sasha and Bayley for an interview saying that they had just escaped Nia Jax. Bayley said Sasha needed to be safe and healthy enough for her match with Asuka. Sasha said she shouldn’t be in this position but she guarantees that she will win back the Women’s title. Bayley said they will take care of Baszler and Jax once Sasha is done with Asuka.

Akira Tozawa Defeated Shelton Benjamin, R Truth and Cedric Alexander To Become The New 24/7 Champion

Review: This was like any other 24/7 title match. I think Benjamin should’ve just retained. I know the belt is designed to change hands consistently and not be taken seriously but I feel like The Hurt Business should keep some gold around their waists by now.

Randy Orton was interviewed and was asked about if he had anything to say after what Drew said about him. He said he does and made his way to the ring.

Randy Orton came out to the ring. He said he promised that he was going to RKO Drew and kick him in the skull at SummerSlam but he didn’t. He said he is a man of his word. He tells Drew that the opportunity presented itself to kick him. He said he kicked him twice because he offered him a rematch out of pity. He claimed that he is the greater wrestler of all time but gets interrupted by the debut of Keith Lee. Lee came to the ring. He introduces himself and tells him to bask in his glory. He says he is a game changer and he is limitless. He challenges Orton to a match to happen right now. Orton said maybe later and left the ring.

Charly Caruso was about to talk about Drew McIntyre until she over hears Zelina arguing with Angel Garza. Charly asked Zelina if she is ready to admit what she did to Montez. She said the footage proved nothing. Garza asked Charly who hasn’t been caught before. Zelina shuts him up and says she needs to focus on her match. Garza asked Demi if she could party with her tonight but she mentioned that she was talking with Ivar over the weekend. He interrupted her saying she can come if she wants and Charly is also invited. He walks away.

Montez Ford Defeated Angel Garza

Review: Good match. The point of it was to have Garza distracted by Ivar stealing Demi away from him. Pretty entertaining but it is not a story that isn’t anything I would care for. I think Angel deserves a little better than this.

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler talked backstage. Nia purposed that they team up to win the tag titles from Sasha and Bayley. Shayna said she’ll do it if she leaves her alone. Nia said as long as she follows her lead and pushes her. Shayna slaps her and they walk away. Bianca Belair met up with Liv Morgan and Ruby Riot, getting ready for their match against Zelina and the Iconics.

Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan and Ruby Riot Defeated The Iconics and Zelina Vega

Review: Pretty good match. The only thing is why wouldn’t Bianca just tackle Zelina down and land vicious rich hands over and over after what Zelina did to Montez. She should’ve just brawled it out with her instead of just trying to win a match. Other than that, the match was short and sweet.

Ricochet and Cedric Alexander arm wrestled each other backstage, Mark Henry interrupted, saying they got to take the arm wrestling table to the ring now. Ricochet and Cedric talk about it until MVP interrupted. He scolded Cedric for losing the 24/7 title and playing with Ricochet instead of trying to get back his title. Ricochet told him to walk away but MVP said he is talking to Cedric not him. He pointed out Ricochet abandoning Cedric last week. He doesn’t know why Cedric is not taking his offer but everyone’s got to make a choice. He tells them to continue playing patty cake and he is going to deal with the arm wrestling match coming up.

Mark Henry was in the ring with the arm wrestling table. He wants to determine who is the strongest between Bobby Lashley and Apollo Crews. He introduces the two participants to the ring. Henry said it needs to be a fair competition with no one interfering. Lashley said he doesn’t need The Hurt Business because he will beat him in the ring. He said he will take the United States title from Crews at Payback. Apollo said MVP failed and Lashley will fail in the arm wrestling match and at Payback. Crews stomped on Lashley’s foot and put Lashley’s arm down for the win. Lashley tried to attack Crews but Crews booted him out of the ring. Crews dove out of the ring to take out the rest of The Hurt Business.

Charly interviewed The Mysterio Family. She asked Rey about the conflicting emotions he has about what happened at SummerSlam. He said Dominick stepped into the ring and he did him proud. Charly asked Dominick if he was nervous. He said with his family in his corner, he knew he had strength. Rey said Seth will understand what he put his family through when he has a family of his own. Rey claimed Dominick became a man at SummerSlam. Rey tells Dominick that he is proud of him. He said he is excited that he shares the ring with his son and claims his son is the future of Raw.

Natalya and Lana were in the ring. Lana wants to induct Natalya into the Hall Of Fame but Natalya said she’ll get her Hall Of Fame induction one day. Natalya claimed that she is retiring Mickie James tonight. She shows a blank screen on the titantron, saying that it is a highlight of Mickie’s career. Mickie came out and pushed Natalya. She landed the Mick Kick to Lana.

Bobby Lashley confronted Shane McMahon backstage saying he wants to fight tonight. Shane agreed and opened the door for him.

On Raw Underground, Lashley immediately choked out one of the competitors. Dolph Ziggler stepped up to him. Lashley took out Ziggler, knocking him outside the ring. The Hurt Business threw a person in the ring and Lashley knocked him out with a kick.

Randy Orton Defeated Kieth Lee By DQ

Drew McIntyre attacked Randy Orton at ringside until Randy escaped over the barricade.

Review: It seemed like a good start for Lee for his debut against Orton. That was until Drew interrupted the match, not selling the punt all that much. I don’t like that this is how Lee has his debut match against Randy. It is not the worse thing in the world but they could’ve at least have Lee win by DQ after Orton would low blow him or something like that. Then when Orton is about to attack Lee with a steel chair, you have Drew McIntyre come out for the save. It was just dumb what they did here for Lee’s debut match.

Charly caught up with Drew backstage, asking what he has experienced tonight. He said Orton tried to end his career. He was about to tell something to Randy at the camera but Orton attacked him from behind. Randy delivered another punt kick to Drew.

Charly gave an update on Drew outside the trainers room. She said he could have a skull fracture as said by the doctors.

Asuka Defeated Sasha Banks To Retain The Raw Women’s Championship In A Lumberjack Match

Review: I don’t think there was any doubt that Asuka was going to retain. it did what it needed to do and that’s further the tension of her and Bayley. The match itself was good but not as much as their match at SummerSlam.

Charly Caruso informed everyone that Drew was being taken to a medical facility as he was being taken away in an ambulance. She interviewed Keith Lee, asking him his reaction. He said Drew is the toughest man he has ever met and he’ll be okay. He said he can’t say the same for Randy Orton.

Back on Raw Underground, Cedric Alexander and Bobby Lashley fought. Lashley knocked him out with a submission move as he was landing shots to his head. Ivar tried to attack Lashley until Shelton Benjamin attacked him. Lashley and Benjamin brawled with the Viking Raiders. Lashley took out Ivar with a Camera Lock and Benjamin knocked out Erik.

Dominick and Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins and Murphy Ended In A No Contest

Retribution showed up to the ring, attacking Rey and Dominick. Seth and Murphy ran out of there as soon as they entered. They throw Rey and Dominick out of the ring. Two of them throw Rey head first into the steel post. The show ended with Retribution standing tall on the ring apron as Seth and Murphy look on with grins on their faces.

Review: I was surprised this match was going to main event the show. This was going great until Retribution showed up. I don’t get why they would choose this match to get involved in the show instead of appearing in multiple segments to try and disrupt the show. They only show up once on this show and they didn’t show up at all at SummerSlam when they are trying to disrupt the shows? That doesn’t make any sense. Dominick and Rey were great as a tag team and they blended well with Rollins and Murphy as their opponents.

Overall Review: This was an okay show. It had a lot of flaws creatively. For example, the segment with Lana and Natalya was pointless. I know they are trying to continue the feud with Mickie but after that match that her and Natalya had last week, but they just had Mickie come in to attack them then leave. It was just pointless and didn’t really do much to rectify what they did to her last week. I love seeing Keith Lee get a spotlight segment involved with Drew and Randy. I don’t know why he was speaking in that cadence the whole time during his promos or even why they changed up his theme music but that kind of worried me as well as how they handled his debut match. However, he’s got another match with Randy at Payback so they can hopefully turn it in the right direction. The segments with Drew and Randy were really good. I like how they are trying to show vulnerability in McIntyre and give him a disadvantage for the next time they face each other. The fact that Shayna and Nia are teaming up to challenge Sasha and Bayley for the tag titles is very interesting. I love the interactions with them on this show with how Nia pushed Shayna then Shayna slapped her. It matches their intensity which has defined their characters. I’m surprised we didn’t see much of Raw Underground. They only had two segments with The Hurt Business completely dominating, which was probably one of the best things on the show. Lashley and Crews having their arm wrestling match was underwhelming. They have Crews crush his foot, he puts Lashley’s hand down and that was it? I didn’t think that was entertaining at all at least for me and it made Crews came off as a heel. The other thing is they kept bringing up Roman Reigns returning so many times on this show. He’s a SmackDown star. You can mention once and advertise that he’ll be on SmackDown this Friday but that’s it. They kept bringing it up and it was just annoying.

Overall Grade: 5/10

 

 

Arrow to top