WWE Raw – August 13th 2018: Results & Review
Welcome to this week’s Monday Night RAW review, right here on Nerdly. In Nathan’s absence I’ll be bringing you a review of this weeks episode… Which comes complete with commentary from Renee Young!
Match #1: Ember Moon def. Alexa Bliss
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
Is it too heavy-handed of a metaphor to say that there are cracks in Mount Olympus? Maybe, but while self-proclaimed Goddess Alexa Bliss has steadfastly denied that she’s destined to lose her Raw Women’s Championship to Ronda Rousey on Sunday, very little went right for Miss Bliss on Monday. Her personal security — approved by Constable Baron Corbin — was decimated by Rousey, and Bliss’ match against Ember Moon ended in a somewhat surprising defeat for the five-time Women’s Champion.
Despite the presence of Alicia Fox in Bliss’ corner, it quickly became clear that Bliss’ main focus was on Rousey, who posted up as backup for The War Goddess. Alexa even mixed it up with Rousey outside the ring, attacking her challenger from behind and hurling her into the barricade during a brief scrap before wandering straight into the path of a tilt-a-whirl gutbreaker from Ember. The Eclipse seemed to spell the end until Alicia rushed the ring and broke up the pinfall, earning a disqualification win for Ember.
My take: This nicely continued the Alexa Bliss/Ronda Rousey feud into Summerslam, throwing Ember Moon into the mix also made this an interesting match to watch with Moon pulling out all the stops in an attempt to beat Bliss – which she did. By DQ. And yes, the count was slow… Should’ve been a clean win for Ember Moon.
Match #2: Constable Corbin def. Tyler Breeze
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
As part of the lead-up to his SummerSlam match against Finn Bálor, Constable Baron Corbin sanctioned individual contests for himself and The Extraordinary Man. The Lone Wolf, perhaps looking to select someone of similar build to Bálor, selected Tyler Breeze, and while the former United States Champion notched the victory, he turned out to be a bit more overconfident than he should have been.
Corbin based his entire strategy around a ground-and-pound game plan that made good use of his size advantage, but Prince Pretty didn’t go down without a fight, even landing an enziguiri on the outside that left The Lone Wolf stunned. An overzealous Breeze went to follow up and sprinted headlong into the Deep Six, which was enough to put Breeze down.
My take: Tyler Breeze, despite losing the match, clearly outshone Corbin, who’s looking more and more limited in his moveset as the weeks go on. Maybe he should stop wearing the shirt and trousers combo and loosen up a bit?!
Match #3: Finn Balor & Braun Strowman def. Jinder Mahal & Kevin Owens
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
Claiming to have selected a match appropriate for a Superstar who considers himself a “big man,” Corbin revealed he had scheduled a Handicap Match that pitted the first-ever Universal Champion against Kevin Owens & Jinder Mahal. But wait! While Baron Corbin may have been willing to use his authority to place Finn Bálor in an unwinnable situation against Kevin Owens & Jinder Mahal, Kurt Angle was quick to act as a check on The Constable’s power, transforming Corbin’s original contest into a tag team match that united Finn with Braun Strowman.
Obviously, this arrangement worked out much more favorably for the Irish high-flier. Even though KO & Mahal isolated The Extraordinary Man, Strowman flipped the script the second he tagged in, charging KO into near unconsciousness on the outside and handing Mahal a long-awaited Powerslam for the pinfall. So Finn gets the W, and Braun proves he can control his temper and avoid the kind of loss-by-technicality that would cost him the Money in the Bank contract if it happens on Sunday.
My take: A pretty decent tag team match that saw Balor take all the punishment from Owens & Mahal, meanwhile when Balor DID get the upperhand, all it did was make Mahal look as clumsy as everyone says he is. Balor got beat down by Corbin-post match to tease their Summerslam clash.
Match #4: Bobby Lashley def. a jobber
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
Lashley had been scheduled to face a local named Ricky Roberts, who turned out to be so devoted to The Living Truth that he came to the ring with a guitar and promised to one day become a talented enough musician that he would earn the respect of Elias. The guitarist emerged to insist that all he wanted from Ricky was to beat Lashley. Lashley soon followed, and Roberts decided to make himself famous, Kabonging the former ECW Champion over the back with his guitar. Alas, that did little besides make Lashley angry, and the dominant Superstar hoisted Roberts into the air and pummeled him into the ring with a one-handed spinebuster.
My take: A stupid squash match which did little to fire the Elias/Lashley feud. Was this even actually a match? It was certainly more meh than match!
Match #5: The B-Team def. the Deleters of Worlds & The Revival
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
Facing long odds and a fearsome pair of challengers to their hard-won Raw Tag Team Titles, The B-Team seemed all but certain to go down in a blaze of glory at the end of Raw’s Triple Threat title match. But against all odds, Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel survived the storm of The Revival and The Deleters of Worlds, escaping the three-way dance with their championship reign intact.
They did all this despite a stupendous effort by The Revival, who had an answer for everything, and we do mean everything: They even recovered after a lengthy, wild brawl among all the teams to hit the Shatter Machine on Bray Wyatt. Little did they realize, Axel had tagged in on Scott Dawson without the latter realizing, and the champion hauled Dawson off The Reaper of Souls, threw him out of the ring onto Dash and claimed the pinfall for his (B) team.
My take: The B-Team continue their fluke of winning in yet another average match, this time stealing the pin from The Revival, setting up a Summerslam match between Dash, Dawson and The B-Team. Old-schoolers The Revival nicely paid homage to the recently deceased Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart with a Hart Attack double team clothesline – which was easily the highlight of this match tbh.
Match #6: Bobby Roode & Titus Worldwide def. Mojo Rawley & The Authors of Pain
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
Mojo Rawley and The Authors of Pain have made their names lately on cutting a one-man (or one-team) swath through anybody that crossed their path. So how did Bobby Roode & Titus Worldwide beat them? By working together. The Glorious One and his teammates picked their moments perfectly in a Six-Man Tag Team Match that united the various rivals. Roode proved to have the best timing: After Rezar broke up a pinfall attempt by Roode, Titus O’Neil knocked him out of the ring, and Rawley took his eye off the ball to expel The Big Deal as well. Roode sprang with a Glorious DDT, and that was that.
My take: FIller, filler and more filler. Six men that have been fighitng over the past few weeks crammed into one match that was interupted by a WWE Summerslam promo, which shows you how much the WWE cares about this match – about as much as I did. A waste of time and Bobby Roode, that’s all this match was.
Match #5: Ruby Riott def. Sasha Banks
The following is courtesy of WWE.com:
Ruby made her in-ring return in a singles match against Sasha Banks this week, and she wasted no time getting back to her ruthless bona fides, trapping The Boss’ hand in the steel steps and blasting it with a kick. Having one working hand didn’t stop The Boss from putting up a fight, but it did stop her from effectively applying the Bank Statement — not that Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan were taking any chances on that front.
The rest of The Riott Squad attempted to interfere, which led to Sasha taking both of them out with a suicide dive and Bayley providing the assist at ringside. Unfortunately, Sasha was still banged up and was therefore easy pickings for a roll-up from Ruby as she attempted to re-enter the ring.
My take: Easily the best match of the night, the women put on a fast-paced back and forth that had a couple of brutal spots and some great interference from Bayley and the rest of the Riott Squad. Ruby Riott’s win made sure her comeback match put her back into the top-tier of the Women’s Division once again.
News of the Night:
- Dean Ambrose is back on the RAW roster.
- The Revival are to take on The B-Team at Summerslam in a kick-off match.
- Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman teamed (yes they’re back together despite last weeks Heyman interview) for a beatdown on Roman Reigns, which means Reigns has either a) another excuse to lose at Summerslam, or b) Reigns is going to get revenge big-time at the PPV and score the win.
- Elias can’t cut a promo without stumbling over his words. Ever.
- Did I mention Dean Ambrose is back on the RAW roster? And looking like a one-man wrecking machine!
Final Verdict: Another average episode of Monday Night Raw, brightened only by Renee Young on commentary, the ridiculous backstage segments featuring Dolph Ziggler and the reappearance of Dean Ambrose after a lengthy 9-month absence. This was the usual “filler” episode, keeping the storylines alive, before the big pay per view. Typical WWE.
