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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (July 20, 2020) from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, with all the fallout from the Extreme Rules pay-per-view that went down just last night at the same venue.
Advertised for tonight: Big Show vs. Randy Orton in an Unsanctioned match, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the Raw live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR JULY 20
Steep is the path, but your feet have wings sharing the weight of your burden. While you’ve the strength to carry on, I’ll carry on beside you and liveblog this here pro wrestling show.
The show kicks off with a recap of the Seth Rollins / Rey Mysterio feud and their Eye for an Eye match from last night.
Thence to the intro video.
Commentary hypes up tonight’s action for us.
Seth Rollins makes his entrance, flanked by Buddy Murphy.
He gets on the mic and tells us about Rey’s injury, and how what he did will stay in his memories forever. He blames the WWE Universe for what he’s done, but we can’t dwell in the past, no. The beauty in all of this is that now, Mysterio is out of sight, and Monday Night Raw is free to fulfill its potential.
Enter Aleister Black.
He’s here to throw some hands and he beats Murphy down on the floor first! He takes Buddy out and throws him over the desk but Rollins runs away when he tries to come in the ring, and we go to break.
Aleister Black vs. Seth Rollins
Match joined in progress, Rollins spills to the floor, Black heads out after him and they brawl against the barricade. Seth ducks a shot and Aleister punches the post! Back inside, Sling Blade connects, Black with an elbow up in the corner, but Rollins stays on him and targets the arm, applying sort of a loose top wristlock but just grinding his fingers into Al’s forearm!
Snap suplex, only two, putting Black shoulder-first into the turnbuckles, he floats over a suplex and low-bridges Seth to the floor! Right hand from the apron, Rollins blocks it, springboard in, nobody home and Aleister hammers him with back elbows and kicks! Sliding knee, kip-up, he nails Buddy with a haymaker but Seth sidesteps a quebrada!
Blackout ducked, Black Mass connects but he can’t drag Rollins out from under the ropes! Murphy comes in, Aleister lays him out with Black Mass and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Black hits a chest kick that sends Rollins to the mat. Drawing him back up, he hits another to the same effect, a third, setting up Black Mass but Seth grabs a schoolboy for two! Superkicks ensue and both men are down and out! Headed up top, Aleister cuts him off and climbs to join him.
Jockeying for position, Seth works the arm for the advantage and falls to the apron. Springboard, Black grabs a waistlock, roundhouse kick, waistlock applied but the arm betrays him! Arm wringer, off the ropes, Blackout! Slow to capitalize...
Seth Rollins wins by pinfall with Blackout.
Post-match, Rollins orders Murphy to attack Black in the ring! They put boots to him and dump him to the outside, where the attack continues as they ram him into the barricade! Seth grabs his hand and tells him he keeps doing this and asks when he’s gonna learn before breaking his arm against the post! A full arm wringer on the floor follows!
Seth smashes Aleister’s arm into the announce table and drops the cover on him for good measure. Buddy holds him in place while Rollins steps on his hand and asks who’s here to save him... BLACKOUT ON THE HAND!
We get a recap of Montel Vontavious Porter claiming the United States Championship by forfeit last night.
Ron Simmons is backstage chatting with MVP and Bobby Lashley, asking them to consider what he’s told them about a better way. They fistbump as he leaves.
R-Truth rolls up, holding a wok and complimenting Porter on his replica title. Montel says he beat Apollo, he’s the champion, and Truth is dubious. MVP says he gets it, they were just on their way to the ring and they’d love it if he’d join them. Ron begs off because the full nelson hurts, like a lot, and he doesn’t want to get put in it.
Referee John Cone advances, and Shelton Benjamin appears out of nowhere!
Shelton Benjamin wins by pinfall with a big boot to win the WWE 24/7 Championship.
MVP extends an offer to the new champ to join them, and he takes it— Black Dynamite reunion, y’all!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, the Hurt Business make their entrance, consisting of Bobby Lashley, Montel Vontavious Porter, and Shelton Benjamin.
MVP informs us of last night’s events and says he doesn’t make excuses, he makes history, and it didn’t matter if Apollo Crews showed up or not. Once they get done beating up on dumb and dumber— er, Ricochet and Cedric Alexander, they’re gonna go have a proper championship party.
Enter Cedric Alexander and Ricochet.
They say dumb and dumber was funny back in 2006 when his career was relevant, but all they see now is a coward holding a title he didn’t earn and stands behind Bobby Lashley. Cedric says they’ve been champions here before and they’ll do it again, with or without Porter. MVP says when he looks at his boys here he sees the Hurt Business, and when he looks at Alexander and Ricochet, he sees a pair of little boys.
But they’ll make it fair— pick any two of them and they’ll do a tag match. The babyfaces say they have a tag partner who believes they’re full of garbage and who is making his return to Monday Night Raw. Montel says it’s not Apollo, and he’s right— IT’S MUSTAFA ALI!
The heels rush them but the babyfaces fend them off! STEREO DIVE FAKEOUTS!
We go to break before the match can begin.
Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali, & Ricochet vs. the Hurt Business (Bobby Lashley, Montel Vontavious Porter, & Shelton Benjamin)
Ricochet and Lashley to start, the younger man using his speed but Bob throws him into the corner and he tags Alexander. Solebutt, forearm, chop, Lashley turns him inside out with a lariat and puts him in the corner for a beating! Quick tags, isolating Cedric, working him over at length until he gets a tag!
Ricochet in on Benjamin, tagging Ali in, he lights the new 24/7 champ up and sends him to the floor as we go to break.
Back from commercial, the Hurt Business are in control and working Ricochet over. Ricky gets a jawbreaker on Benjamin, reaching, desperate, but Porter tags in and cuts him off by attacking his injured knee, and the heat segment rolls on. Shelton proves the opening, as Ricochet dropkicks him and tags Ali! MVP in also, Mustafa with flying chops, pop-up dropkick, he’s fired up!
Chops in the corner, whip reversed, pop to the apron, land a kick, rolling thunder X-Factor for two! The match breaks down, the babyfaces dive one-by-one on Lashley and get caught only for Ali to wipe him out with his final dive! Kickflip moonsault from Ricochet on Benjamin! Back inside, sidestep the Drive-By, Ali with a neckbreaker, headed up top...
Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali, & Ricochet win by pinfall with the 450 splash from Ali on Montel Vontavious Porter.
Randy Orton cuts a promo backstage.
He talks about the moments that change your life, and most folks would say that’s stuff like joining Evolution or becoming the youngest heavyweight champion ever, those aren’t the ones he’s talking about. He’s talking about what he sees every time he shuts his eyes, 175 days ago when he swung a steel chair down on Edge’s surgically repaired neck.
He’s baffled by the way one moment in his history could bring so much pain to so many while it brings him satisfaction. It felt good to stand over Edge’s convulsing body, and it felt good to beat him at Backlash.
And it feels good to go to break, friends.
Back from commercial, we see Ron Simmons chatting with the Viking Raiders backstage.
We get a Big Show career retrospective, to remind you all that he is the largest, and thus the best, wrestler of all time.
Christian calls in from home for an interview.
He says he’ll never look at Ric Flair the same way again, and he’s not sure he’ll ever be the same, after the Nature Boy helped Randy Orton beat the hell out of him last time he was on Raw. He says Big Show is ready for any kind of traps Randy might have set for him, and he can’t wait to see him knock Orton’s ass out cold.
We go backstage for an interview with Bianca Belair.
She says she was just here to show up, show out, and help her pal Ruby Riott out—
Peyton Royce rolls up. She says Bianca is the dumb-est for showing back up, and Ruby Riott rolls up to remind her who won last time. Billie Kay is off on some important business, but Royce says Ruby should just forfeit now, and Belair should be careful of turning out like Liv Morgan. Bianca gets in her face and backs Riott off to send us to break.
Peyton Royce vs. Ruby Riott
Riott a tornado of offense with a leg pick, raining forearms down, shoulder thrusts in the corner but Royce gets the reverse roundhouse and returns the favor with the grounded right hands! Whip across, axehandle, cover for two. Lotus Lock surfboard in the ropes, breaking at referee Aja Perera’s command.
Jawing at Ruby, throwing kicks, Riott with strikes of her own, go-behind ends up on the apron, slide under, victory roll and the ropes but Perera sees it, no count! Jumping roundhouse staggers Ruby, Peyton up top, nobody home, wristlock applied...
Ruby Riott wins by pinfall with the Riott Kick.
We get a recap of the tag division over the last month or so.
Andrade “Cien” Almas, Angel Garza, and Zelina Vega are walking and talking backstage when they run into an interview.
Zelina says playtime is over and her boys have been on the same page and are ready for this. What about the Street Profits? They’ve been in hiding ever since her clients asserted their dominance, and who knows, maybe her boys will win via countout when the champs don’t show up. Angel and Andrade talk about how ready they are—
STREET PROFITS BLINDSIDE THEM AND BEAT THEM DOWN! They tell Vega to get her mans and we go to break.
Andrade “Cien” Almas & Angel Garza vs. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
Vega’s boys blast the champs to start, Garza working Dawkins over and tearing his own pants off in the process. Grinding him down, cutting him off, soon enough we get the tag and Ford comes in hot. Running the ropes with Almas, dropkick connects and he follows it with a tope con giro that sends us to break!
Back from commercial, Ford still in on Almas, arm wringer, tag to Dawkins, he blasts Andrade and grabs an armbar. Montez legal again, Andrade rams him into the corner and tags Garza in to resume control of the match. Ford gets away from Almas, hot tag to Dawkins! Corkscrew elbow, pop-up drop, overhead exploder suplex, he’s fired up!
Corkscrew Stinger Splash, one-handed bulldog... NOPE! Tag to Garza, he lays Angelo out with a superkick, looking for a superplex on Ford, denied, Montez perches...
Street Profits win by pinfall with the frog splash from Montez Ford on Angel Garza.
We get a recap of Bayley and Sasha Banks’ exploits to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Garza and Almas are bickering when Zelina Vega rolls up.
She yells at them for blowing their opportunity to control the tag division and now she has to fix their problem.
Bayley and Sasha Banks make their entrance, Banks still brandishing the Raw Women’s Championship.
Bayley shames the WWE Universe but Sasha says she’s got this. She knows a lot of people are talking about her and accusing her of stealing the title, but either we have bad memories or low-def television, because last night she fought for the title, unlike Asuka, who literally got handed the title when Becky Lynch went on maternity leave.
And last night Asuka spit her disgusting green mist in referee Eddie Orengo’s face, and he was impaired, so Bayley took his shirt just because somebody needed to referee the match. Bayley says she’s a role model and she had to make a split decision to do the right thing when Banks had the cover. Sasha says she’s Two Belts Banks and they celebrate having all the gold.
Enter Asuka and Kairi Sane.
Asuka gets on the mic and says Sasha wasn’t ready for her, and Asuka wasn’t ready for a thief. That’s her title, and she and Kairi advance on the ring to take it by force.
Stephanie McMahon appears on the tron. She congratulates Bayley and Sasha on being tag champs, and Bayley on being SmackDown champ, but as far as the Raw title is concerned, last night’s match certainly was a horror show. Banks might believe herself to be champion, but she didn’t win last night, and neither did Asuka.
Therefore, next week they’re going to have a match to determine who’s the rightful Raw Women’s Champion, and if Bayley gets involved, Sasha *will* lose the title.
Kabuki Warriors advance on the ring and we go to break.
Bayley vs. Kairi Sane
Match joined in progress, Sane lighting Bayley up with overhand chops. Knife-edge chops in the mix as well, fakeout to a small package, only one! Bayley in the ropes to force the break, mat slam follows it up, Kairi headscissors her to the floor! Following out after her, taking her back inside, cover for two but Bayley follows it up by flapjacking her into the post!
Putting boots to Sane in the corner, shoulder thrusts, a snapmare into a cover for one and she locks a reverse chinlock on. Back elbows to break, crossbody for two, Bayley drops her with a right and follows it up with punishing strikes! Snap suplex, cover for two, small package from Kairi almost does it! Bayley punching her in the back of the neck, referee John Cone warns her off.
Straight suplex, another two count, looking for a suplex over the ropes and to the floor but Sane hangs on for dear life and axe kicks her over the ropes! Kairi perches up top, diving double stomp to the back but Bayley rolls to the floor and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Sane is in control and hits the sliding forearm in the corner only for Bayley to have her knee up! Snap suplex, another two count, wrenching Kairi’s arm over the bottom rope. Hammerlock applied, shift to a double wristlock, we see Shayna Baszler backstage and she’s interviewed.
She talks about how dominant she is and how she can’t seem to get a match booked, and nobody deserves that spot like she does, so she has a vested interest in this match like a shark does when it sees prey in the water. Back to the match, both women are down and out after a DDT from Sane! Duck a lariat, back heel trip, off the ropes, running neckbreaker and a dropkick put Kairi in control!
Sane heads up top, Bayley cuts her off and hangs her arm over the top rope! Hanging top wristlock, full elevation out of the turnbuckles and Sane is only barely able to trip Bayley up so she loses her balance in the turnbuckles! Tree of Woe, Kairi up top... DOUBLE STOMP! Uraken follows it up, Interceptor, headed up top again... DIVING ELBOW!
But she can’t capitalize with her arm jacked up and Bayley gets a foot in the ropes! Knee strike from the champ sets up a back suplex, she goes up top, diving elbow of her own... NOT ENOUGH! Bayley-to-Belly attempt, countered...
Kairi Sane wins by pinfall with an overrotated schoolboy pin.
Backstage, Drew McIntyre is interviewed.
He says he feels like he fell down seven flights of stairs, but he’s headed to the ring right now to talk about the future of Drew McIntyre.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for tonight’s edition of Raw Talk.
Drew McIntyre makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He says Dolph Ziggler’s stipulation was brilliant and completely swayed the match in his favor, and he made good use of it and to be completely honest, he almost had him. But almost doing things is the story of Dolph’s entire career, and it’s onwards and upwards for him. The next show is SummerSlam, and he wants a worthy opponent.
Enter Dolph Ziggler.
He says he saw something in Drew last night that he hasn’t seen in a long time— fear. He was this close to winning the title and finally having his moment. Drew says if he’s looking for a match, he literally lost 24 hours ago in a match he got to pick the stipulation for, he’s not getting it, bugger off!
Ziggler continues making his case and McIntyre says he’s starting to actually feel bad for him, so he’s gonna save him the embarrassment and leave. Dolph grabs him and Drew headbutts him, reiterating that the answer is no.
Dolph yells at him to turn around when he’s being spoken to and he says he’ll accept any terms for a rematch as long as he gets it. Drew says he guesses all those years at law school weren’t wasted, because Ziggler has presented a compelling case and changed his mind. If he gets to pick the stipulation, he accepts.
Ziggler calls back to him and asks what the stip is. Drew says he only just said yes, he hasn’t picked on yet. He’s gonna do exactly what Dolph did to him, he’s gonna tell him the stipulation right before the bell rings.
Big Show gets a promo backstage.
He talks about what Randy Orton has done to Edge and Christian and how he’d be foolish not to realize what kind of jeopardy his career and his health are in tonight. He hoped and prayed for a long time that the Legend Killer would never come back, but he guesses the voices in his head just got a little too loud.
Whether that’s Ric Flair turning the volume up or Randy himself, those voices are screaming to take everything in his way out, permanently. Show is reminded of him and Orton riding together as a tag team that they nicknamed Hammer and Chisel. They bonded together talking about complexities of how each of them are presented in this business.
They’re like tigers that can’t change their stripes, and those talks bonded the two of them. They became friends because they each knew inside what the other was dealing with. He guesses that’s changed now, with the Legend Killer back, and he’s got a boot with his name on it. Big has spent the last week staring in the mirror, asking if this is the end of the line.
It might be. But there’s another saying about tigers— a tiger is most dangerous when it senses the end, because it’ll do anything just to survive. So this old tiger is ready to do anything and everything to make sure Randy doesn’t write the end of his story.
And so we go to break.
Big Show vs. Randy Orton (Unsanctioned Match)
Show immediately ramming Orton into the corner for the overhand chop but Randy slips away. Into the opposite corner, body blows with those hamhock fists, the giant wrenches his arm over the ropes and clubs his shoulder! Continuing to target the shoulder, Orton starts to rally and runs the ropes and Big Show spears him out of the ring!
Show gets a table out and slides it into the ring, but before he can capitalize Andrade and Garza run down and put the giant into the ringpost! Drawing him up, holding him in place while Orton backs up but the Viking Raiders make the save! We got a pier six brawl goin’ as we head to break!
Back from commercial, Orton has show locked down but the giant pries his hands apart and rises to his feet for a huge headbutt that knocks the Viper down! Leaning in the ropes, getting himself together while Randy rises, whip to the corner, backsplash, off the ropes but Orton dropkicks his legs out from under him!
Charging in for the punt, Show rises and goozles him... CHOKESLAM ALMOST DOES IT! Calling for the WMD, waiting for Randy... and he bails to the floor to dodge it! Big sets the table up at long last and palms Orton’s head like a basketball to drag him up to the apron before hip tossing him over the ropes and back inside!
Setting the Viper up on the table, the giant climbs to the second rope... VADER BOMB BUT NOBODY’S HOME AND SHOW CRASHES THROUGH THE TABLE! Orton laughs as referee Rod Zapata checks on Big, going to that special place, waiting for him to rise... RKO! BIG SHOW KICKS OUT! Randy gets a chair out from under the ring as Show gets back to his feet.
Shot to the midsection, waffle the giant across his back, whispering tales of violence in his ear before again cracking the steel chair across the big man’s back! To the apron, dragging himself up the ropes, but Randy cuts him off and hits him with the chair again! Looking for the hanging DDT... AND HE GETS IT!
Going to that special place once again, waiting for Show to rise...
Randy Orton wins by pinfall with the RKO.
Post-match, Big Show pulls himself up on his hands and knees using the bottom rope as Orton lies in wait... PUNT!
He says that’s one more legend down.
That’s the show, folks.