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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Aug. 24, 2020) from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, with all the fallout from the SummerSlam pay-per-view (PPV) that went down just last night.
Advertised for tonight: Keith Lee makes his debut, 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 24
Just as mountains live outside of rocks, and time itself outside of clocks. We hope this life exists beyond our lonely bones in the pine box. From the bottom of my heart, at the top of my lungs. From the corner of my eye, at the tip of my tongue, liveblogging this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens into the intro video.
Commentary hypes up tonight’s action and recaps the return of Roman Reigns last night.
Drew McInytre makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He welcomes us to the ThunderDome and asks everybody in the crowd for a thumbs up before talking about how he overcame Randy Orton last night to retain the WWE Championship. And what was his secret? It’s simple, he’s hungrier than Randy, he works harder than him, and he pushes forward no matter what.
And he knows what hard, desperate times are like, what it’s like to wonder where your next paycheck is coming from, and Orton’s never had that. His inner circle made sure he made it to the top, but the funny part is even with all that he’s the absolute best... and last night, Drew McIntyre was that much better.
He brings up the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever and says he beat Randy with a wrestling maneuver, so what does that make him now? He’s looking forward to his next challenge, and if Orton wants to step up again, that’s fine, because he didn’t get a chance to send him to Claymore Country last night.
Drew goes to leave and poses on the stage one last time... AND RANDY ORTON BLINDSIDES HIM! They brawl on the ramp and back to Gorilla, and Orton tries to gouge McIntyre’s eyes out before punting him! Referees and road agents swarm but Randy parts the crowd and punts Drew again!
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.)
We see McIntyre getting up and stumbling away, refusing help from the road agents.
We get a hype reel for Keith Lee.
Backstage, Nia Jax runs into an interview.
She berates the woman for accosting her and says she’s actually been reinstated after apologizing to Pat Buck. She shouts that last bit and scares the woman off.
Shayna Baszler rolls up and says everyone’s counting down the moments until she does or says something that gets her suspended again. Nia says call her after she beats Bayley, and Baszler says she’ll call her Haystacks Calhoun, except whoops, he was handsome looking. Jax calls her an Addam’s Family reject, and Shayna welcomes her back.
We get entrances for the next match, including Nia Jax, and we go to break.
Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler
Bayley hurting and on the defensive early on, go-behind, Baszler looking for a double wristlock, block the drop toehold, she applies kind of a standing Stranglehold Gamma! Bayley fires back, side headlock takeover, Shayna fights out and hammers her with forearms! Triangle choke applied, Sasha Banks runs interference and Bayley blasts her with a northern forearm!
Straight suplex, only a two count, mat slam, off the ropes, sliding back elbow sets up a sliding lariat, cover for two! Shayna back in with forearms and leg kicks and Bayley throws her to the floor where Nia Jax looks on! Baszler starts to climb back in, Nia yanks her out, and referee Chad Patton has no choice...
Shayna Baszler wins by unannounced disqualification.
Post-match, Baszler fights nobly but Jax gets the better of her before throwing her into the ring and running her over!
Kevin Owens is wandering backstage putting his tie on and looking for Aleister Black’s locker room.
He finds it with the help of a helpful crew member, he knows and opens the door and Aleister is there. He asks if he’s in fact coming on the KO Show, because it’s next. His one-sided conversation continues and he says he’ll see him out there before Black’s tattooed hand reaches out and shuts the door to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Kevin Owens welcomes us to the Kevin Owens Show.
His guest, Aleister Black, makes his entrance, his right eye patched with a bandage, evidently still not healed from Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy attacking him. Black has some footage he wants shown, and it is in fact footage of that attack. KO says he’s been there, Rollins gets in your head, and he’s trying to take a different path now.
Every time you show that footage, every time you look at it— Aleister has a freakout and nails Owens with a back elbow when he goes to check on him! Black Mass!
Backstage, Bayley and Sasha Banks are talking animatedly when an interview rolls up.
They complain about Sasha being in danger when she has her rematch tonight, and Bayley vows to take care of Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax.
And so we go to break.
Akira Tozawa vs. Cedric Alexander vs. R-Truth vs. Shelton Benjamin (c) (WWE 24/7 Championship)
Chaos to start, Cedric getting into it with Shelton, headscissors into the corner, jockeying for position over the ropes and the champ blasts him to the floor with a knee! Truth off the ropes, Shelton ducks the scissors kick and goes for a powerbomb only for Tozawa to rush in... HE POWERBOMBS TOZAWA OVER THE ROPES BUT THE NINJAS CATCH HIM!
Truth dumps Benjamin to the floor, Akira capitalizes...
Akira Tozawa wins by pinfall with a sunset from on R-Truth, winning the WWE 24/7 Championship.
Post-match, Tozawa runs to the back while his ninjas take a beating.
Randy Orton is walking backstage and refuses to be interviewed to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Randy Orton makes his entrance.
He gets on the mic and says he’s done what he wants, when he wants, to whom he wants, but last night that wasn’t the case. He promised all of us that he’d RKO Drew McIntyre, punt him, and take his title, but he didn’t. You can call him a lot of things, but one thing he’ll always be is a man of his word.
He promised us he’d kill the legends of Edge, Christian, Big Show, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels, and that’s exactly what he did, because he’s the Legend Killer. And today he kicked Drew twice in the skull, and why? Because he offered a rematch out of pity— who does he think he is?! Well, Randy is the Legend Killer, the greatest wrestler—
Enter Keith Lee, making his Raw debut!
He introduces himself to Mr. Orton and he’s come here to offer him a spectacular opportunity to stop what he’s doing, take a moment, and bask in his glory. Randy’s been called many things; Viper, Apex Predator, Legend Killer, and Keith has as well— Game Changer, Anomaly, and for certain, Limitless.
And since the Limitless One is here on Raw and Orton is looking for a fight the likes of which no one has ever felt, with respect to his friend Drew McIntyre, he’d step up if he’s willing to accept the challenge, one on one against Lee right here, right now!
Randy takes his vest off and gets in his face and says maybe later before rolling out of the ring.
Backstage, Angel Gara, Zelina Vega, and Bachelor lady are hanging out when an interview rolls up to ask if Vega’s ready to admit to poisoning Montez Ford.
She denies it again and says she’s sick of it, leaving Garza to offer Demi and Charly both chances to come watch him wrestle, after the break.
Back from commercial, we’re informed that Lee/Orton will in fact happen tonight.
Street Profits get an inset promo where Angelo Dawkins questions Angel Garza’s lothario credentials and Ford says he’s gonna beat him.
Angel Garza vs. Montez Ford
Garza with a side headlock out the gates, shot off, slide under, leapfrog, leapfrog, Ford with a big dropkick and he’s fired up! Enzuigiri from the apron, fending Andrade “Cien” Almas off at ringside but he dives right into a dropkick and Angel rips his pants off! Cover for two, putting Montez in the corner, Tree of Woe, running knee to the face!
Ducking and dodging, Ivar comes to ringside as Ford bails to the floor, he’s got a gift of a leg of mutton for Bachelor lady! He asks if she wants to get out of here and she agrees, leaving on his arm, happy with meat in her hand. Ford sidesteps a dropkick, chest kick, up top and Garza cuts him off. Montez knocks him down...
Montez Ford wins by pinfall with a frog splash.
Backstage, Nia Jax rolls up on Shayna Baszler backstage.
She says she wasn’t thrilled about teaming but then she realized they could win the tag titles, and she wants the tag titls. Shayna says she’ll help with the titles as long as Jax gets off her back. Nia says she’ll have to follow her lead, and Baszler slaps her across the face!
Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott are walking along when they run into Bianca Belair. All three women walk and talk, and they’ll be in trios action after the break.
Bianca Belair & Riott Squad (Liv Morgan & Ruby Riott) vs. Iconic Duo (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce) & Zelina Vega
Morgan and Kay to start, collar and elbow and the heels quickly pull ahead. Tag to Royce, Liv turns her around and keeps from getting isolated, tagging Riott in. Peyton gets away, back to Billie and a big boot nearly ends the match then and there! Quick tags, keeping Ruby isolated until Belair can come in!
She turns up the acrobatics against Vega and drops her with the Glam Slam! Handspring moonsault, but the Iconics break it up! Stereo enzuigiris from the Riott Squad run them off, Vega with a schoolboy for two! Bianca clobbers her with a forearm...
Bianca Belair & Riott Squad win by pinfall with KOD from Belair on Zelina Vega.
Backstage, Cedric Alexander beats Ricochet in an arm wrestle while he’s tuning up.
Mark Henry rolls up to challenge him but Cedric backs off, and Mark takes the arm wrestling ring off to the ring.
Montel Vontavious Porter rolls up to ask where Cedric’s priorities are, and he berates Ricochet when he pipes up. MVP acknowledges that Alexander already said no, but pitches him on the Hurt Business again anyway.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Mark Henry introduces our next match.
Mark informs the contestants that he’s told all their allies and associates to stay in the back, and Bobby says he doesn’t need his boys to make this fair, because he’s gonna slam Crews’ hand down and then beat him up, but not too bad, because he needs him to be available this weekend to get beaten up for the United States Championship.
Apollo says he saw what happened to his boy MVP last night, and the same thing is going to happen to him at Payback, but first he’s gonna win this arm wrestling match.
Apollo Crews vs. Bobby Lashley (Arm Wrestling Match)
Bobby’s got mindgames and fakeouts, but when it comes time to start, Crews stomps his foot and hammers his arm down...
Apollo Crews wins by forcing Lashley’s hand to the mat.
Bob attacks but Crews fends him off with a pump kick and dives on the rest of the Hurt Business!
We get a recap of Dominik Mysterio’s debut from last night.
The Mysterio family is interviewed backstage.
They talk about how proud they are of Dominik, and he admits he was absolutely terrified, but his dad gave him the courage to go out there and fight. Rey says one day Seth will have a family of his own, and then he’ll understand what he put the Mysterios through. And now the family is together and Rollins will have to deal with the consequences for the rest of his career.
Last night, his son became a man, and tonight isn’t about winning or losing, it’s about standing together.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Lana and Natalya are in the ring together and they get on the mic.
Today is special for them, because they’re inducting a special woman in to the Hall of Fame, and Natalya is the best of all time, but she’s not going in tonight, it’s actually Mickie James.
Tonight, like every great trail, her trail ends tonight, and they accuse her of riding their coattails. They present career highlights, which are a black screen, and Mickie comes running down to shove Nattie ot the mat! Lana comes over... CHICK KICK!
We cut to the Hurt Business rolling up on Raw Underground because Bobby Lashley wants to hurt somebody tonight. Shane McMahon ushers them in and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Bobby Lashley is choking some fool out at Raw Underground, winning his fight.
Dolph Ziggler steps up to challenge him and shoots in for a leg pick, taking Lashley off his feet! Bob fights out, kicks to the ribs, Dolph kicks up at him and grabs a sleeper hold, hanging on as Lashley tries to roll him off and stands back up! At last Bob slings him off and blasts him off the ring and to the floor!
The Hurt Business throw some other dude in the ring and Lashley takes him out with a single kick!
Keith Lee vs. Randy Orton
Collar and elbow, Lee forcing Orton into the corner but the vet counters to a side headlock. Keith picks him up off his feet, but Randy wrenches it in more! Shot off, leapfrog, drop down, shoulder block, Orton scrambles into the corner, shock on his eyes! Test of strength fakeout, front kick, uppercut, the Viper throws a punch and Lee catches it!
Crushing his fist, pulling him in, overhead belly-to-belly suplex! Randy to the floor, Keith hosses him up but he slips out and puts Lee into the post! Back inside, Garvin Stomp ensues, reverse chinlock but the Limitless One posts to his feet and stands up, backing him into the turnbuckles to break the hold!
Lee on a roll, Stinger Splash, off the ropes, duck a lariat, freight train crossbody! POUNCE! Coming back inside, Randy cuts him off, hanging DDT connects! Going to that special place, pounding the mat... AND DREW MCINTYRE PULLS HIM OUT OF THE RING!
Randy Orton wins by unannounced disqualification.
McIntyre brawls Orton out through the crowd and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get some ThunderDome fun facts (750,000 watts of lasers!) and a recap of Wyatt/Strowman from last night.
Drew McIntyre runs into an interview backstage.
He says he’s happy for his friend Keith Lee, but Randy Orton tried to end his damn career, and if he’s watching right now— ORTON BLINDSIDES HIM AND PUNTS HIM AGAIN!
Referees swarm and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of what we just because blah blah you know the deal.
Charly Caruso is waiting outside the trainers’ room for an update on Drew McIntyre, and doctors are afraid his skull might be broken.
Asuka (c) vs. Sasha Banks (WWE Raw Women’s Championship Lumberjack Match)
Banks with a folding press out the gates, no dice and Asuka tosses her to the floor! She shoves Ruby Riott and Asuka blasts her off the apron again with a hip attack! Bayley tries to keep the other lumberjacks at bay as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Banks drags Asuka to the floor to windmill punch on her and hold her in place for some help from Bayley! Back inside, cover for two and Asuka pulls herself up the turnbuckles. Boot up on the charge, headed up top, diving DDT... NOPE! Asuka catches a kick and rolls through into an ankle lock!
Sasha crawling, reaching, desperate, the Empress staying on top of her positioning but Banks throws her out of the ring and dives on the Riott Squad when Asuka gets out of the way! Penalty Kick off the apron! Asuka on a tear, shoving Natalya and Lana, striking down the Iconics, all to get to Bayley but the Boss saves her pal!
Back inside, frog splash off the top... STILL NO! Bayley gets a chair to help her pal but Shayna Baszler attacks her and Asuka is able to capitalize...
Asuka wins by submission with the Asuka Lock to retain the WWE Raw Women’s Championship.
Backstage, Drew McIntyre is loaded into an ambulance and driven off to a local medical facility.
Charly Caruso is on-hand to interview Keith Lee.
He says a large portion of him would like to say hey bud, don’t interfere in my debut, but when your friend goes to the hospital it’s hard to be selfish like that. But he knows his friend is going to be okay, and he can’t say the same for Randy Orton.
Rey & Dominik Mysterio are shown walking backstage ahead of our main event.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for tonight’s edition of Raw Talk.
We go back to Raw Underground to see Bobby Lashley and Cedric Alexander fighting, and Bobby taps him out. Ivar jumps into the fight and Shelton Benjamin and Erik join the brawl as it expands!
Commentary informs us that Keith Lee vs. Randy Orton has been made for Payback.
Buddy Murphy & Seth Rollins vs. Dominik & Rey Mysterio
The Mysterios jump Rollins and Murphy before the bell! The heels turn the tide and throw them over the table!
Match starts, Buddy and Dom legal and Mysterio fires up that family lucha libre! Slingshot dropkick, Rey puts Seth into the barricade and they isolate the Messiah in the ring and set him up for the 619! Buddy makes the save, plancha from Dominik and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Rollins is in control on Rey Mysterio, hitting a gutbuster! Rey manages a comeback, both men down and out and the path is clear! Buddy in, Rey his an enzuigiri and gets the tag! Dominik sidestepping, lariats, whip reversed, another lariat, right hands, springboard crossbody connects!
Springboard headscissors in the corner, tornado... ROLLINS MAKES THE SAVE! Rey in, blind tag from Murphy, Seth bails, Buddy from behind with a schoolboy for two! Rey floats over, dropkick to the legs, get him on the second, tag made... STEREO 619! Dom up top and the lights flicker enough for Seth to come in and shove him off the top!
Retribution is here and the match breaks down...
The match goes to a no-contest, presumably.
Rey huddles with his son to protect him and Retribution put boots to the Mysterios! They take Rey out to the floor and lawn dart him into the ringpost! They leave them lying and stand tall on the apron.
That’s the show, folks.