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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Aug. 10, 2020) from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, with all the latest build to the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for later this month.
Advertised for tonight: Asuka vs. Bayley, Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton, the return of Raw Underground, 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 AUG 10
I know... It’s here we retreat, for where else could we go? To great disbelief there is somewhere we belong. In negative space supposed flaws go unseen, but our strength is shown. In darkness together we’re bringing the light. In darkness together we are forming. The fire tomorrow is born of the night, but me? I’m just here to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with a graphic in memory of the dearly departed James “Kamala” Harris.
Thence to the intro video.
Commentary hypes tonight’s show up and tosses to Samoa Joe, who is presiding over a contract signing for Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins at SummerSlam.
They come out and Seth says Dominik looks more like a scared little boy than a man, and Joe takes Mysterio’s kendo stick from him for safe keeping. Rollins accuses him of making a mockery of proceedings, and Samoa says he should be seeing Seth Freakin’ Rollins, possibly the greatest superstar of his generation, and instead he sees a man who got all caught up in his feelings after the WWE Universe booed him a few times.
Joe rakes him over the coals for taking his issues out on a man who’s barely trained to be a professional wrestler, and Seth defends himself, saying he’s done everything he’s had to and Joe might just find himself to be next. He claims he hasn’t had a choice in any of this and asks when it’s going to be enough for us.
Dom says it’s never gonna be enough, and he can keep making excuses for all the ungodly things he does, but he’s changed the lives of good men for the worse, and he uses the greater as an excuse, but the only thing he fights for is himself. Seth says he’s here on the cusp of fulfilling his dream and becoming a WWE Superstar, but he doesn’t seem to appreciate that it’s all because of him.
Mysterio says he’s right, that was his dream, but now, his dream is just to kick his ass at SummerSlam. Seth says Dom can’t last ten minutes against him in a proper pro wrestling match, but he’s gonna do him a little favor— he seems handy with that there kendo stick, so how about he bring that with him? Anything in the tool box, as a matter of fact— he wants him to have no excuse when Rollins ends his career before it even begins.
They sign the contract and Dominik signs his WWE contract... it’s official!
Seth tells Dom to go hang back and watch what he does to his buddy Humberto Carrillo... after the break.
Humberto Carrillo vs. Seth Rollins
Back at the bell, collar and elbow into the corner, jockeying for position in the ropes, Carrillo fires up and lays into him with dropkicks! Action to the floor, brawling near the barricade and Rollins throws him into it! Back inside, jockeying for position, Humberto knocks him down and punches him into the corner!
Up top, jockeying for position, Carrillo knocks him down and perches but Buddy Murphy gets up on the apron to run interference! Dom clobbers Buddy with the kendo stick, but soon enough Seth superkicks Humberto, powerbomb, off the ropes...
Seth Rollins wins by pinfall with Blackout.
Post-match, Murphy blindsides Mysterio and puts boots to him! Seth is ready to take Humberto out but Dominik recovers and brawls with Buddy... BLACKOUT! Rollins gets the kendo stick and lights Mysterio up with it! Seth orders Buddy to rip Dom’s shirt off and waffles his bare flesh with the kendo stick, again and again!
They tie Mysterio up in the ropes and hammer him with the kendo stick some more! Murphy goes and gets two more kendo sticks and Seth tells him he owes the kid some and tells him to hit him in the back while he hits him in the front! They let him go and Seth asks if he wants to be a man. He’s ready to hit Blackout but Mysterio’s back gives out on him from all the punishment and he slumps down!
Rollins tells Rey Mysterio that this is to be continued and leaves with Buddy to send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of what we just saw, because Raw is Three Hours Long. (Three Hours Long.)
Commentary tosses to a video package covering the debut of Retribution last week.
Andrade “Cien” Almas, Angel Garza, and Zelina Vega make their entrances.
Zelina gets on the mic and denies any responsibility for poisoning Montez Ford, but claims that her boys will, in fact, win the tag titles from the Street Profits.
Angelo Dawkins makes his entrance, and he’ll fight Almas after the break.
Back from commercial, we get an ad for a special episode of the Big Show Show.
Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Angelo Dawkins
Dawkins is a pure flurry of violence at the bell, punching away! Whip reversed, leapfrog, front kick, right hands knock the headbands off but Angelo dropkicks Almas to the floor! Andrade taking his time, breaking the count, keeping distance, and when Dawkins tries to come out after him he cuts him off and puts boots to him!
Grinding him down, trading forearms, Angelo gets away from him and hits a corkscrew elbow! Overhead exploder suplex follows it up, dodge the spinning Stinger Splash and Almas hammers him with forearms! Corner knees, cover... NOPE! Off the top... DAWKINS CUTS HIM DOWN WITH A RIGHT HAND! Zelina Vega runs interference, Bianca Belair takes her out from behind...
Angelo Dawkins wins by pinfall with Cash Out.
Post-match, Belair jaws at Garza and immediately takes the fight to Vega! But Zelina runs away to send us to break before the match can begin.
Bianca Belair vs. Zelina Vega
The match is in progress with Vega on Belair’s back with a sleeper hold! Bianca hosses her around, capture suplex! Rolling through, calling her in for more, Zelina begs off but Belair grabs a handful of hair! Stomp the foot in return, crucifix blocked but Vega swings through into a triangle choke! Bianca posts to her feet, deadlift, Zelina rolls through but she can’t get the sunset flip!
Belair hosses her up into a facebuster, calling for her to get up before just wailing on her with strikes in the corner! Putting boots to her, referee Darrick Moore warns her for castigo de excesivo and Vega pokes her eye! Tornado suplex... NOPE! Up and over, waistlock, handful of hair, warned off but Zelina shoves her into the turnbuckles!
Pump kick, lining her up, running knees! Rolling Belair through into a cover, only two! Looking for the Acid Drop, blocked, Bianca gets her up in the fireman’s carry but Vega slips out! Back elbow staggers her, she rolls under another and hits the satellite tijeras to get some separation! Zelina climbing up top, diving crossbody... CAUGHT! MILITARY PRESS DROP!
Grabbing Vega around the face, jawing at her, windmill punches, biels, but Vega sidesteps the charge and Belair takes the post hard in the shoulder! Putting boots to Bianca, climbing up top, yelling about how she didn’t poison Montez... TENRYU POWERBOMB! GALLON THROW! Hoisting her up...
Bianca Belair wins by pinfall with the KOD.
Post-match, Belair is interviewed next to Angelo Dawkins.
Asked for evidence, she says she and Montez like to keep their careers separation, but Zelina messed with his business, and if she does it again, she’ll get whooped by the EST of WWE. Asked for an update on Montez, she waves Angelo in, and he says SummerSlam is two weeks away and Montez isn’t missing the show.
We see the Hurt Business chilling backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, the Hurt Business of Bobby Lashley, Montel Vontavious Porter, and Shelton Benjamin are in the ring for an episode of the VIP Lounge.
MVP says tonight’s episode is different, because he’s not in the mood to pop bottles, but rather certain people in the mouth. He puts over his own bonafides and asks how he’s supposed to win championships in these unsafe working conditions. Apollo Crews never beat him, the lights beat him.
Enter Apollo Crews.
He comes out and says Montel is always making excuses for his losses and that he must be hurting to see this title that he paid for on his shoulder. Porter says he’s a serial bad decision maker, and coming out here with the three of them is another bad decision. Crews says he’s allowed to make bad decisions, because he’s a bad man.
MVP wants to tell him he doesn’t care about his family and his kids, but Crews says he doesn’t care about Shelton or Bobby, and at SummerSlam, the only lights going out will be Montel’s. Lashley and Benjamin attack but Apollo slides in the ring and pops MVP one! HE HOSSES THE SET COUCH AND THROWS IT OUT OF THE RING AT SHELTON AND BOBBY! WE GOTTA GO TO BREAK!
Apollo Crews vs. Shelton Benjamin
Match is joined in progress, Crews nearly hits his finish but Benjamin gets away. Ramming him into the corner, shoulder blocks, whip across, up and over into a dropkick from Apollo! Snap suplex, cover for two, Shelton snaps off a powerbomb and gets two of his own! Dumping Crews to the floor, the Hurt Business swarms to “check” on him.
Benjamin with a knee lift, smashing his face into the apron on their way back inside, choking Apollo over the ropes and following it up by locking a reverse chinlock on. To his feet, right hands, trading shots, whip across, Crews explodes with a crossbody! Slow to capitalize, shoulder thrusts in the corner, Apollo putting it together with a Stinger Splash and a back suplex lift!
Blocked, off the ropes, he hits a snap scoop powerslam on Shelton and follows it with the standing moonsault! Lashley runs interference, Crews gets distracted taking him out...
Shelton Benjamin wins by pinfall with a schoolboy pin.
Post-match, Bob grabs the full nelson but MVP tells him to wait, he needs Crews healthy so he can beat him at SummerSlam. Lashley lets go and Montel says he’s just looking out, but Apollo drops him with an enzuigiri and beats a retreat.
Cut to security arguing with Retribution before they throw a few cinder blocks through a window and run off.
And on that note, we go to break.
Back from commercial, a returning Mickie James is interviewed backstage.
She’s excited to be back and lead the locker room, but she’s got gold on her mind.
Enter Lana and Natalya in matching dresses.
Lana asks how she’s gonna lead the locker room without a TikTok and Nattie puts herself over as the best of all time, or the BOAT. Mickie says she expects this from Lana but Natalya’s got a legacy of her own to worry about. But the thing about boats, you see, is they sink. James walks off and the blondes call her rude.
We get a recap of last week’s debut of Raw Underground.
Backstage, Ivar is chatting with some lady when Erik, Ricochet, and Cedric Alexander roll up to say their match is next.
The girl apologizes for keeping Ivar and says he’s cute but Erik is not, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of tonight’s opening segment, because Raw is Three Hours Long. (Three Hours Long.)
Akira Tozawa & Some Ninjas (Ninja 1, Ninja 2, & Ninja 3) vs. Cedric Alexander, Ricochet, & Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
Ricochet and a ninja to start, crane kick takes the poor guy out, Cedric tags in, double stomp-assisted reverse STO! Another ninja in, Vikings beat this guy up, Tozawa waves the third one in but he refuses to go! Akira walks around ringside while the Vikings do their deal...
Cedric Alexander, Ricochet, & Viking Raiders win by pinfall with the Viking Experience on Ninja 2.
Post-match, Ninja 3 rolls Tozawa up... IT’S R-TRUTH!
R-Truth wins the WWE 24/7 Championship.
Drew McIntyre is interviewed backstage.
He says the reason Randy Orton hasn’t been helping the younger generation is simple— self-preservation. He wants to make sure he’s on top of WWE for as long as he possibly can, and when he ripped the torch from Mick Foley’s hand years ago, he realized that if he ever let go of it, he’d be a thing of the past.
Drew says he’s gonna rip that torch out of Orton’s hand and make him realize that evolution has passed him by. He goes to leave but the interviewer asks what happens if Kevin Owens takes that torch tonight, and Drew says they’ll have to have a long talk about the future of Monday Night Raw.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, the Iconic Duo get their entrance and they cut a promo running the Riott Squad reunion down.
Liv Morgan vs. Peyton Royce
Liv in hot out the gates, pummelling her, leg trip STO, more strikes, Royce cuts her off and dumps her to the floor! Following after her, but Morgan blocks the apron face smash and returns the favor! Back inside, warning Billie Kay off, but Liv runs into a reverse roundhouse kick! Peyton draws her up, telling her Ruby Riott doesn’t care about her before raining crossface strikes down!
Morgan with a go-behind, O’Connor roll for two! Stereo roundhouse kicks leave both women down and out! Riott runs Kay off, Liv is distracted, Royce clobbers her from behind...
Peyton Royce wins by pinfall with the Deja Vu.
Post-match, Ruby checks on Liv, who is distrustful of her thanks to that malfunction at the junction just now.
We get a recap of Sasha Banks vs. Shayna Baszler from last week.
We cut backstage to Shane McMahon rolling up on the bouncer for Raw Underground and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Raw Underground has begun with Cal Bloom fighting some dude whose name is either not given or I miss.
They fall out of the ring and Shane says it’s okay because there’s no rules. They brawl back in the ring and, ah, I see, that’s Riddick Moss. Anyway, he beats Cal with a flurry of forearms like in every other Raw Underground fight.
Asuka vs. Bayley
Asuka hot out the gates, snapmare in a kick to the back, smashing Bayley’s face into the mat over and over. Out and back in, Bayley returns the favor, sliding forearm gets two! Reverse chinlock applied, leg pick when she gets into the corner sets up a snap elbow drop for a two count. Disdainful kicks, Asuka fires up, backslide pin, no dice!
Duck the roundhouse kick, but Asuka gets her with a sliding kick on the rebound! German suplex, running hip attack, cover, no good! Another hip attack gets caught and Bayley hits a waistlock takedown into the turnbuckles for some breathing room! Sidestep a knee, hanging Bayley up in the ropes, chest kicks set up a stomp, cover for two sends us to break!
Back from commercial, a bit of back and forth, Bayley gets a grapevined ankle lock! DDT the leg, keeping the pressure up, including some help from Sasha Banks at ringside, but she can’t keep Asuka down! The Empress with the grounded octopus hold, shift to an armbar, Bayley forces the break with a pin! Double knees countered, roll through, Indian deathlock applied!
Asuka reverses to a kneebar! Bayley to her feet but Asuka pulls her right back down into the hold! German suplex attempt, the Empress counters with a short crossbody for two! Codebreaker connects! Trading strikes, Alarm Clock connects and Asuka can taste victory within her grasp! Jockeying for position in the turnbuckles... DIVING ELBOW DROP CAN’T KEEP THE EMPRESS OF TOMORROW DOWN!
Bayley sets her up with a spinning backfist, sunset flip powerbomb into the turnbuckles, mocking Kairi Sane’s march but Asuka gets a flying Asuka Lock! IT’S OVER!
Asuka wins by submission with the Asuka Lock to earn a title match against Sasha Banks at SummerSlam.
Back to Raw Underground, Arturo Ruas is here and wrestling against an unbilled opponent. He closes the gap with kicks and then dismantles the poor guy’s guard with overhead strikes before eventually knocking him out.
Shane throws the floor open for another fight for Ruas but nobody takes it and we go to break.
Back from commercial, more Raw Underground with Dabba-Kato.
He kicks some poor schmuck’s leg out of his leg and then just destroys him with a few belly-to-belly suplexes. He grabs the kid by the gentleman’s area and knocks him out with a punch to the face!
Shayna Baszler shows up and Shane cedes the floor to her as we wait for somebody to hop in the ring with her. She gets out and forearms some poor woman, throwing her into the ring and hammering away until her friend joins the fun. A third woman pulls Baszler off the second, but she gets taken down into a keylock and taken care of.
They all three team up on Shayna but she knocks one out, slams another, and drops the third with a roundhouse kick!
We go outside, where Retribution have turned a car upside down and are kicking at it rather ineffectually.
Randy Orton makes his entrance to send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for tonight’s edition of Raw Talk.
Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton
Circling, collar and elbow, pushing each other into the corner, Orton with a side headlock, cranking it in, shot off, drop down, back elbow from Owens sends Randy scrambling! Pulling Kev out of the ring, met with right hands, but he puts a thumb into KO’s eye to even the odds! Taking him to the announce table, denied, Owens smashes the Viper’s face into the cover of the table!
Back inside, putting boots to the Legend Killer, breaking at referee Eddie Orengo’s insistence. Whip reversed, duck a lariat, kick to the gut, Stunner denied, RKO blocked, superkick lands true! Randy stumbles into the corner... CANNONBALL! ANOTHER CANNONBALL ON THE FLOOR SENDS US TO BREAK!
Back from commercial, Owens puts boots to Orton, backing him into the corner for chops. Into the next corner, more chops, Randy falls to the outside, whip reversed and Owens goes hard into the steel steps! Putting Kev into the Lexan barrier, back inside to break the count, drawing him up, another hard whip into the steps!
Back in the ring, the Garvin Stomp ensues, knee drop gets two. Reverse chinlock applied, gouging at Owens’ eyes, but he gets out and fires off right hands. Chop in return, whip, front kick gets an uppercut, KO drops him with a lariat and hits a senton after! Action goes to the floor, Orton with the back suplex into the announce desk!
Back inside, up in the turnbuckles, jockeying for position, trading punches... KEVIN OWENS SENTON ATOMICO NEARLY PUTS THE VIPER AWAY! Kev going to that special place, on his hands and knees, kick to the gut... Stunner blocked! Randy capitalizes...
Randy Orton wins by pinfall with the RKO.
Post-match, Orton gets on the mic and asks a favor of Ric Flair.
He wants him to stay put because they need to talk and they have to celebrate.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of what we just saw, because Raw is Three Hours Long. (Three Hours Long.)
Randy Orton gets on the mic and says he has every right to be upset with Ric Flair, but he just can’t be angry at the Nature Boy. He can’t find it in his heart, but he’s got every right to be pissed, because he should never have had this match against Kevin Owens, and he only got into it in the first place because of Ric’s ego.
He puts Flair over, saying he’s learned so much from him and for the past twenty years he’s had his back and taught him everything he knows. He’s one of the reasons he’s still here after twenty years, and he can’t be mad at the Nature Boy. He asks if he remembers back in 2002 or 2003, Peoria, Illinois, he got in a little trouble, and nobody came to help him except for Ric.
Flair bailed him out of his dumbass 22-year-old punk ass predicament and he respected him and loved him after all that. But he doesn’t love or respect him anymore, because he’s a liability to him in his career and everything that he’s trying to get done right now. He looked back all those years ago and he knows that Ric was thinking he could be the son he wished he could have.
Ric gets emotional and Randy says crying is all he’s good for anymore, telling him to sob like a baby. He’s not the Ric Flair everybody looks up to, no, the Ric he looked up top wouldn’t need a pacemaker in his chest, wouldn’t have slipped into a coma two summers ago, he wasn’t a whore for the spotlight like he is.
He calls Ric a junkie for the spotlight, washed up and incapable. At SummerSlam he’s got the opportunity to take the WWE Championship for the 14th time, and that’s all he should be concerned with, but instead he was worried about himself.
Flair takes the mic and says he’s taking this very personal and he hears him, but he wants to tell him a couple things about him. Number one, that Ric Flair back in 2001, he’s not here anymore, Randy’s right. Does he like the spotlight? Yeah. Does he want to be part of it? Yes, who wouldn’t? He’s 71 years old and he’s on Raw, and that means he’s got guys like Hulk Hogan calling him asking what it’s like, and it’s the best feeling in the world.
He does want Randy’s approval, because he wants to be there for his 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th reigns, he wants to see Orton beat his record, not John Cena’s record, HIS record. He was home when his dad was on the road, no cell phones, he knows what he went through, and that’s why he wants Randy and why he thinks he’s the greatest performer in the business today.
But you want to know why he can’t get mad? After 31 days of being in intensive care, in a coma for 12 of them, he woke up and all he wanted in life was to tell the people he hadn’t told that he loves them, and to make sure everybody he loves knows how he felt. He called around everyone he loves, and he’s not trying to take anything from Orton.
All he is now is he wants to be Charlotte’s dad and part of Randy Orton’s life. He can’t be Ric Flair any more, and that’s all he wants, is to see Randy break his record. Orton knocks the mic out of his hand and pulls him in for a hug. They exchange some whispers... AND RANDY DROPS DOWN TO UPPERCUT HIM IN THE GENTLEMAN’S AREA!
The lights flicker as he eases the Nature Boy to the mat and gets real close for some last words we can’t make out.
The lights go down briefly and come back up with Orton in position, psyching himself up... THEY GO OUT AS HE PUNTS THE NATURE BOY!
DREW MCINTYRE MAKES THE SAVE! He checks on Ric while he calls Randy an evil son of a bitch. EMTs, referees, and five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce come into the ring to give the Nature Boy proper medical attention.
Drew and Randy stare each other down.
That’s the show, folks.