‘WWE Raw’ Review (Jul 31st 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: Ludwig Kaiser def. Matt Riddle
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
With Gunther preparing to battle Drew McIntyre in an Intercontinental Championship Match at SummerSlam, his disappointment in Ludwig Kaiser’s recent failures proved to be a great motivator for his Imperium cohort to overcome Matt Riddle in a hard-fought matchup with a devastating DDT.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #2: Maxxine Dupri def. Valhalla
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Two week’s after Valhalla smashed Maxxine Dupri through a table, The Alpha Academy neutralized the interfering Viking Raiders outside the ring and paved the way for the recent graduate of Alpha Academy to overcome her ominous adversary with a technically superior finishing maneuver in her first one-on-one matchup.
My Score: 1 out of 5
Match #3: Shinsuke Nakamura def. Tommaso Ciampa
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Fueled by growing animosity, Shinsuke Nakamura overcame Tommaso Ciampa with a quick pin.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #4: Gunther def. Chad Gable
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Intercontinental Champion Gunther failed in his attempt to defeat The Alpha Academy’s Chad Gable in less than five minutes ahead of his SummerSlam title defense against Drew McIntyre. After failing to win his Five-Minute Challenge, The Ring General demanded that the match be restarted with more time. Despite Gable’s incredible effort in the subsequent contest, the dominant titleholder emerged victorious with the Powerbomb.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #5: Becky Lynch def. Trish Stratus (DQ)
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
WWE Official Adam Pearce refused to let Trish Stratus back out of her rematch with Becky Lynch. Moments after the match started, though, the WWE Hall of Famer and Zoey Stark suddenly executed a sneak attack on The Man. Nevertheless, Lynch fought off the attack and forced Trish Stratus to hitting her with a chair just to get away.
My Score: 0 out of 5
Match #6: Seth Rollins & Sami Zayn def. Damian Priest & Dom Mysterio
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
After The Judgment Day’s destruction of several Superstars last week, Sami Zayn looked to get payback for the injury suffered by Kevin Owens when he joined forces with World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. When bedlam took over, Damian Priest looked ready to cash in his Money in the Bank contract. After a small delay, Finn Bálor told him to go for it. That split second, however, proved to be all Rollins needed to repel the effort before the cash-in became official. The Visionary and Zayn soon disposed of the interfering Prince and neutralized “Dirty” Dom. This paved the way for Rollins to hit the Stomp on Priest for the huge tag team victory heading into SummerSlam.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
Outside of a couple of matches, this week’s Raw was OK. Shame that both of the weak matches this time out were women’s matches, which is never a good sign for ANY wrestling promotion but even more so the WWE, who used to pride themselves on the women’s division. Thankfully the rest of the show featured matches like the opener, where Ludwig Kaiser turned around his losing streak in a fantastic well-fought match against Riddle. Speaking of Kaiser, WTF was with the stipulation for his Imperium “boss” Gunther’s match against Chad Gable? Weird. And unnecessary IMHO. If you haven’t seen the show yet, don’t let that shitty write upo from the WWE website put you off the Shinsuke/Ciampa match – their “report” reads like a squash match and it certainly wasn’t! Then we’ve got the main event, with champs versus arseholes – which is always a good time. Rollins and Zayn worked well as a team and it’s always good to see heel lose. Especially Judgement Day, who’ve been on a winning streak recently.
