The August 26th, 2019 episode of WWE RAW aired live from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA. Here are 7 takeaways from this week’s show:
Sasha Banks Tapped Out Natalya
Sasha Banks kicked off this week’s episode of RAW. Sasha stood silently in the ring with the microphone for a moment before saying that for four months she has been gone and minding her own business.
A “Becky!” chant broke out as Banks brought up the rumors of her throwing a fit after WrestleMania. Sasha admitted to crying after WrestleMania and that she took her ball and went home.
Banks claimed that she was relegated to a tag team match that she didn’t care about as Becky Lynch main-evented WrestleMania against Ronda Rousey. Sasha claimed that she deserves the spotlight because she is the boss of the women’s division.
Natalya interrupted and ran down to the ring. Natalya got in a couple of shots and slammed Banks into the steel steps. WWE officials separated the two superstars to conclude the segment.
Later on RAW, Sasha Banks battled Natalya in a singles match. Natalya dominated early and Suplexed Banks on the floor outside the ring. Back in the ring, Natalya planted Banks with an awesome looking Belly to Back Suplex for a near fall.
Sasha battled back and went to work on Natalya’s injured arm. Banks slammed her arm into the ring post and went for the cover but Natalya kicked out at two. Sasha went for Double Knees but Natalya got out of the way and went for the Sharpshooter. Sasha escaped and locked in the Bank Statement in the middle of the ring. Natalya tried to break free but couldn’t and had no choice but to tap out. After the match, Sasha once again locked in the Bank Statement for a bit before exiting the ring.
Ricochet Advanced In The King Of The Ring Tournament
Drew McIntyre battled Ricochet in the first round of the King of the Ring Tournament. McIntyre dominated early and leveled Ricochet with a chop to the chest. The action spilled to the outside and McIntyre slammed Ricochet on the apron as RAW went to a break.
When RAW returned, Ricochet connected with an Enziguri and followed it up with a Springboard Dropkick. Ricochet hit a Northern Lights Suplex but McIntyre shrugged it off and launched Ricochet across the ring.
Ricochet hit McIntyre with a Clothesline and then a Standing Shooting Star Press for a near fall. Ricochet went for a Crossbody but McIntyre caught him with a headbutt. McIntyre went for the Claymore Kick but Ricochet countered with a Superkick.
McIntyre hit a massive Clothesline and followed it up with a Powerbomb for a two count. Ricochet hit the Recoil (Codebreaker) and made his way to the top rope. Ricochet connected with the 630 Splash for the pinfall victory. Ricochet will face Samoa Joe next week in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
McIntyre and Ricochet put on a very solid good match tonight. It was given enough time and the ending surprised me. I figured that if Ricochet was going to win it would be via a roll-up or some kind of fluke victory. That wasn’t the case at all and I’m looking forward to Ricochet’s matchup against Samoa Joe next week.
Seth Rollins Will Defend The Universal Title Against Strowman At Clash Of Champions
RAW Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman were interviewed backstage after their win last week and it was aired tonight. Braun Strowman once again stared at the Universal Championship and challenged Rollins for the title at Clash of Champions. The two will also defend their RAW Tag Team Championships at the PPV.
I hope that Rollins and Strowman lose the titles before the PPV, but I doubt that will be the case. Michael Cole stated that it will be the first time that the tag team champions defend their titles and then battle each other on the same night.
I’d rather see a tag-team division built up and have a real team at the top of it. I cannot stand that the RAW Tag Team Championships are wrapped up in a storyline for the Universal Championship. It does nothing for the division and I don’t need to see Rollins and Strowman wrestle twice at a PPV. It is overkill and there is tons of talent sitting backstage waiting to get an opportunity.
Baron Corbin Advanced In The King Of The Ring Tournament
Baron Corbin faced The Miz in the first round of the King of the Ring Tournament. Before the match, The Miz cut his weekly “please watch my reality TV show” promo.
Corbin started off the match in control and sent Miz to the corner of the ring. The action spilled outside the ring and Corbin sent Miz into the barricade.
Back in the ring, Corbin leveled Miz with a Clothesline for a two count as RAW went to a commercial break. When RAW returned, Miz hit Double Knees in the corner of the ring and followed it up with a Clothesline.
Corbin went for End of Days but Miz countered into a DDT for a near fall. Baron went for a Clothesline but Miz ducked under it and hit the Skull Crushing Finale for a two count. Corbin will battle Cedric Alexander in the quarterfinals next week on RAW.
Baron took a seat on the throne and placed the crown on his head. Corbin said that the WWE Universe wants anyone but him to win the tournament but he doesn’t care about what they think. Corbin mocked the crowd for not being able to accomplish anything that he has and shouted “all hail King Corbin”.
Bayley Defeated Nikki Cross
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley squared off against Nikki Cross tonight on RAW. Bayley applied a Headlock and then hit a Belly to Back Suplex to start the match off.
Cross brought Bayley out of the ring and slammed her into the apron before rolling her back inside. Nikki stomped away on Bayley’s ribs and then rolled her up for a two count.
Nikki tied up Bayley in the Tree of Woe and continued to attack her ribs with a couple of kicks. Bayley connected with a Suplex and then a knee to the face for a two count. Bayley hit a Side Slam and followed it up with an Elbow Drop off the top rope for the pinfall victory.
I was expecting Charlotte Flair to attack Bayley after the match, or for something remotely interesting to happen. I don’t understand why this match even happened. I guess it is a positive that a champion won a non-title match. You rarely see that in WWE nowadays.
WWE’s Tag Team Division Remains An Absolute Joke
Lucha House Party, The O.C., Viking Raiders, Hawkins & Ryder, B-Team, Heavy Machinery, The Revival and the random team of Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode competed in a Tag Team Turmoil Match. The winners will go on to face Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman for the RAW Tag Team Championships at Clash of Champions.
The Viking Raiders defeated the B-Team and then faced The O.C. (Gallows & Anderson). Viking Raiders and The O.C. battled to the outside and both teams were eliminated by disqualification.
Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode quickly defeated Lucha House Party and then battled The Revival. In typical WWE fashion, the random team of Dolph Ziggler and Roode defeated The Revival.
Ziggler and Roode then defeated former tag champs Hawkins and Ryder in a matter of moments. Heavy Machinery then faced Roode and Ziggler. Roode slammed Tucker into the barricade and then the steel steps.
Otis tagged in and decked Roode with a shoulder tackle. Otis planted Roode with a Body Slam and shouted “oh yeah!”. Otis followed it up with a Splash on both Ziggler and Roode in the corner of the ring.
Otis hit Roode with a Powerslam for a two count and then tagged in Tucker. Ziggler hit Tucker with a Superkick and then planted Tucker with the Zig Zag. Roode hit the Glorious DDT for the victory. Roode and Ziggler will face Rollins and Strowman for the RAW Tag Team Championships at Clash of Champions.
This was an embarrassment to tag team wrestling. Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler hadn’t wrestled a match together, yet were able to run through the entire RAW tag team division. Now, they will face another randomly thrown together team in Rollins and Strowman at the PPV. I don’t understand how anyone in their right mind could care about this title match.
Just a quick recap of RAW’s tag team division, the titles are currently being used as props for the Universal Championship storyline. A new team just ran through the established teams in the division, to absolutely no reaction from the crowd. Instead of building up existing teams, the title match will consist of two teams that didn’t exist a week ago and likely won’t exist in a month. AEW has promised to provide the best tag team wrestling on the planet, WWE is trying their hardest to present the worst.
AJ Styles Retained
AJ Styles defended the United States Championship against Braun Strowman in the main event of this week’s episode of RAW. Earlier during the show, AJ Styles was interviewed backstage and claimed that he didn’t need Gallows and Anderson ringside to defeat Strowman. It was then announced that Gallows, Anderson, and Seth Rollins were barred from ringside for the title match.
Strowman knocked AJ out of the ring and hit him with a couple of shoulder tackles. Back in the ring, Styles went for a Phenomenal Forearm but Braught caught him with a Chokeslam as RAW went to a commercial break.
When RAW returned, AJ trapped Braun in a Sleeper Hold in the middle of the ring. Braun escaped but Styles connected with a kick to his knee. Styles continued to attack the knee as Strowman hobbled around the ring.
Styles connected with a Moonsault and went for the cover but Strowman kicked out at two. AJ applied the Calf Crusher but Strowman was able to break the hold. Braun charged at Styles but AJ got out of the way and Strowman crashed into the ring post.
Braun accidentally knocked the official down and AJ capitalized with a poke to the eye and a low blow to Strowman. AJ grabbed a steel chair and hit Strowman with it. Braun connected with the Running Powerslam and went for the cover but the official was still knocked out on the floor outside the ring.
Gallows and Anderson rushed the ring but Braun hit them with the steel chair. AJ Styles fell to the canvas as the referee was getting up and Braun had the chair in his hands. The referee shouted that he heard the chair shots and disqualified Strowman. Braun flipped out and planted Gallows, Anderson, and AJ Styles with a Running Powerslam to close the show.
The finish to this match was a nice little tribute to Eddie Guerrero. However, this week’s episode of RAW was another lackluster show. The state of the tag team division reached a new low tonight, and Gallows and Anderson once again looked inept during the main event. Drew McIntyre and Ricochet put on a good match tonight, the rest of the show was pretty terrible.