‘WWE Raw’ Review (Jul 17th 2023)
Welcome to this review of this past Monday’s episode of WWE Raw, right here on Nerdly… Let’s see what went down on this week’s show!
Match #1: Gunther def. Matt Riddle
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
With the rest of his Imperium teammates barred from ringside, Intercontinental Champion Gunther took on Matt Riddle in a non-title match. Gunther and Riddle traded submission attempts to start the match, with Gunther applying a sleeper hold followed by a triangle hold attempt by Riddle. Riddle’s early momentum was derailed by a huge chop from The Ring General, followed by a body slam onto the mat outside of the ring. As Gunther beat down Riddle, The Original Bro withstood the punishment, attempting to get the victory after a ripcord knee. Gunther did not need Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci with him, defeating The Original Bro a huge Powerbomb.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #2: WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship – Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville def. Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Before the match, Raquel Rodriguez was attacked by WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley, suffering a leg injury at the hands of “Mami.” Deville locked on the single-leg Boston crab on Rodriguez early, attempting to submit the champion, with Rodriguez’s leg not at 100 percent. After an excruciating time, Morgan was able to break up the submission. Morgan hit the Oblivion on Green, but Deville landed a huge knee strike on Morgan at the last minute to keep her team alive. The Unprettier from Green to Morgan almost signaled new champions, but Morgan continued to fight. The second Unprettier from Green followed by a knee strike by Deville to Morgan gave way to crowning the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion.
My Score: 1.5 out of 5
Match #3: Viking Rules Match – The Viking Raiders def. Alpha Academy
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
In a Viking Rules Match where there are no rules, The Viking Raiders took on Alpha Academy with WWE Warrior Award winner Titus O’Neil providing guest commentary. Otis told Chad Gable to “get the tables!” before they were thwarted by a Viking Raiders attack. Otis shrugged off an Ivar splash, however, as he caught him with a powerslam, which erupted the Atlanta crowd. With Viking shields scattered across the ring, Ivar hit an otherworldly moonsault on Otis before Gable landed a moonsault of his own. Gable followed this up with a huge Chaos Theory German Suplex on Ivar that nearly gave Alpha Academy the win. With Hot-lanta rocking, Maxxine Dupri was able to fend off Valhalla, who interfered. Dupri then received her varsity jacket from Gable, but her celebrations were cut in half, literally, as she was driven through a table by Valhalla. Even with Otis roaring his way through Erik and Ivar, Valhalla creeped in again, hitting Otis while he was on the top rope and allowing Erik and Ivar to execute the Viking Experience to gain the win.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Shayna Baszler def. Nikki Cross
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
In a clash of styles, Shayna Baszler took on Nikki Cross. Baszler locked on the Kirifuda Clutch in a matter of seconds to win the match by submission. After the match, Baszler challenged Ronda Rousey to a match at SummerSlam.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #5: Bronson Reed def. Shinsuke Nakamura (DQ)
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
The King of Strong Style looked to settle the score against the kaiju Bronson Reed. Reed mocked Nakamura early, giving his own version of Good Vibrations to The King of Strong Style. After multiple back-and-forths, Tommaso Ciampa interfered to cause Reed to win by disqualification. After the match, Nakamura attacked Ciampa in frustration.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #6: Undisputed WWE Tag Team Title Match – Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. The Judgment Day
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Before the match, Seth “Freakin” Rollins attacked Finn Bálor to take him out of the bout. “Mami” was still ringside, and she distracted Sami Zayn long enough for Damian Priest to plant him on the ring apron with a Chokeslam. Zayn tagged in KO, who was a house on fire, obliterating Priest and Dominik Mysterio with clotheslines and frog splashes. KO followed up with a Cannonball on Señor Money in the Bank, but his Swanton Bomb attempt was met with hard knees to the back. A 619 attempt from Dominik to Zayn backfired, leading to KO and Sami diving onto their opponents, stopping at nothing to retain their titles. As the match broke down, Liv Morgan emerged to attack Ripley, allowing Owens to hit the Stunner on Priest and for Zayn to execute the Helluva Kick on Dirty Dom to retain the gold.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3/5
A mixed bag for Raw this week, with cracking opening and closing matches on this week’s show but some of the stuff that came in between was questionable – in particular the women’s tag match… After this ended I really only had one question burning in my mind. Just WTF are the WWE playing at with the women’s tag titles? It’s like they’re playing hot potato with them at the moment, doing the exact opposite that the Bloodline did with the men’s titles. Pathetic IMHO. The Viking Rules match was surprisingly decent and the Bronson Reed/Shinsuke Nakamura match was good as usual… but that’s the thing, these two guys are delivering but it’s getting repetitive at the same time. Which is a shame. All in all this was a good but not great episode of Raw.
