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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (July 31, 2023) from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming SummerSlam Premium Live Event scheduled for this coming Saturday night in Detroit.
Advertised for tonight: Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes will be “under one roof” just days before they square up for a rubber match. Elsewhere, Logan Paul will also be in the building as he gets ready for Ricochet, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins teams up with Sami Zayn to take on The Judgment Day, Maxxine Dupri will battle Valhalla, and a whole lot more.
Come right back here at 8 pm ET when the Raw live blog will kick off once the show starts on USA Network. It will be below this line here. Reminder: GIFs and pics allowed, but no links to illegal streams, please.
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR JULY 31
Close the city and tell the people that something’s coming to call. Death and darkness are rushing forward to take a bite from the wall, but me? I’m just here to liveblog this pro wrestling show for you, folks.
The show opens with a memorial graphic for the late, great “Exotic” Adrian Street.
Logan Paul makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He says he’s not here for us, he’s here for Ricochet, and last week he attempted— the crowd boos and he drops out to let them pick up in intensity. He says he tried to introduce Ricochet to his audience, and he just wanted to showcase his athleticism and build some hype around their match at SummerSlam.
But then he was sneak attacked, victimized, and abused, and when he was down, Ricochet decided to make a spectacle out of the whole thing. So you can forget about a fight, because he’s gonna beat Ricochet in the most viral match in WWE history, and there’s nothing he won’t—
Enter Ricochet.
He asks what’s going on and says he’s in Logan’s head because we’ve seen this again and again as he tries to spin the story to make himself look like the good guy, but he’s not the good guy in this situation. You can fool the people that follow you online, but you’re not fooling Houston!
But Logan did say one correct thing, which is that their match at SummerSlam will be box office, but before that happens, Ricochet needs to say something. He might not like anything about Paul and think he’s a horrible human being, but if there’s one thing he can respect, it’s that Logan is an athlete and a showman.
Paul says Ricochet is one of the greatest to do it... until he showed up, and the thing is they think alike, and this started at the Royal Rumble when they went viral. Logan says they’re gonna have a hell of a match and offers a fist bump. Ricochet is skeptical but reciprocates it and goes to leave.
Paul calls him back and says one more thing— after the match, the ring announcer, Samantha Irvin, will announce the winner, and that’s his fiancee, right? Logan hopes there’s no hard feelings when he’s got Ricochet’s girl saying he’s the winner.
Ricochet takes him down into mounted punches! Headlock takeover from Logan, back on their feet, Rick with kicks ,Matrix Evasion on a lariat, dropkicks, passed to the apron, shoulder block, the One and Only fired up, off the top... LOGAN PAUL CUTS HIM OUT OF MIDAIR WITH THE HARD RIGHT HAND!
We get a recap of GUNTHER accepting Drew McIntyre’s challenge for SummerSlam and the Scotsman beating Ludwig Kaiser.
Imperium are interviewed backstage.
GUNTHER says he doesn’t live in the past, and his only concern here and now is disappointment with Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci. He expects more from them, and tonight he’d take care of Drew McIntyre himself, but Drew is busy with stuff, so Ludwig has to take care of Matt Riddle tonight.
And then on Saturday, GUNTHER will personally end Drew McIntyre once and for all.
Matt Riddle makes his entrance and we go to break.
Ludwig Kaiser vs. Matt Riddle
Riddle with a waistlock takedown, Karelin lifts, in control, bridging fisherman suplex... NOPE! Kaiser rallies, Matt down in the corner, hesitation dropkick sends him crashing to the floor! Uppercut on the floor, throwing him back inside, drawing Riddle up, shoving him off, charging in but Matt dumps him to the floor with a Frankensteiner!
Penalty Kick off the apron, corkscrew Asai moonsault and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Kaiser puts Riddle in the corner and clocks him with an enzuigiri! Matt with a strike rush, Pele Kick connects, kip-up, corner elbows, exploder suplex, high jump senton and the Penalty Kick! Waistlock, bridging German suplex, only two! Another senton, a third but Ludwig gets the knees up! Overhead elbow and a wicked lariat and Kaiser is running hot!
Fireman’s carry, shoved off, roundhouse kick, ripcord reversed... CALIFORNIA ROLL! Penalty Kick, Riddle kicks out! Running hot, powerbomb into the Final Flash... SO CLOSE! Victory roll pin from Kaiser gets two, big slap gets a knee gets an uppercut gets another vicious knee and Ludwig is down!
Matt off the top with the moonsault, nobody home, enzuigiri connects! GUNTHER directing traffic, Kaiser nails him...
Ludwig Kaiser wins by pinfall with a Square Hammer DDT.
We get a recap of Viking Raiders / Alpha Academy stuff and go to break.
Back from commercial, Logan Paul is strutting backstage when he runs into Byron Saxton.
He says he just gave Ricochet a small taste of what he’s gonna get on Saturday and says he looks like a full-grown fetus.
We get some hype for Cody Rhodes’ TikTok debut, and a video package for his feud with Brock Lesnar follows.
Maxxine Dupri makes her entrance, flanked by Alpha Academy, and we go to break.
Maxxine Dupri vs. Valhalla
Valhalla in with knees, Dupri backs off to regroup, lands a pair of arm drags, the Viking puts her into the ropes and slings her out to the apron! Running knee, cover for two! Fisherman suplex from Maxxine, Stinger Splash, Valhalla’s down and out and Otis Dozovic tells her it’s time to do it!
Dupri does the Worm, goes up top pointing like Sabu, diving crossbody, no count because Erik gets on the apron! Gable moonsaults into the crush, Maxxine gets Valhalla up in a straitjacket electric chair...
Maxxine Dupri wins by pinfall with a Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex.
Judgment Day make their entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Shinsuke Nakamura is warming up backstage when Tommaso Ciampa approaches.
Ciampa says he clearly still has a problem and he’s gonna solve it tonight, and he’s gonna pick up some momentum against him and win the battle royal on Saturday. Shinsuke says nuh-uh, he’s gonna win both matches, problem solved.
Judgment Day are in the ring and on the mic.
Damian Priest asks the crowd to rise, and Rhea Ripley says Monday Night Raw doesn’t start until they say it does. Anyone who doesn’t fall in line will get put on the shelf, and who’s really going to stop them? Priest runs through a short list of the heroes on Raw—
Kevin Owens? No, they took him out. Sami Zayn? They left him laying. Seth Rollins? Impossible after the epic beating they gave him last week. And we all know what Mami did to Liv Morgan, so nobody can stop the Judgment Day. If Sami and Seth decide to show up tonight, well he and Dirty Dom will make sure they don’t leave the arena whole.
Finn Balor gets on the mic and says Seth comes out here every week and acts all insane, and his idea of insanity is wearing stupid clothes and laughing like a clown, but that’s not insanity. No, insanity is waking up every day for seven years and seeing the scars in the mirror.
At SummerSlam Finn can’t erase those scars, but he’ll inflict scars that make him feel just a little bit better knowing Rollins has to see them in the mirror. Mysterio tries to speak but gets drowned in boos. Rhea says any idiot who tries to get in their way should take a page out of Raquel Rodriguez’s book and run and hide.
Otherwise they’ll have to learn to enjoy their time in rehab just like Liv and Kevin Owens.
Enter Raquel Rodriguez.
She hits the ring and brawls with Ripley, throwing her into the corner! They brawl in the ring and out of it and Raquel is distracted by Dom and Rhea blasts her with a chop block! Referees and road agents (Kenn Doane and Petey Williams) swarm and tend to Rodriguez.
We geta video package running through the history between Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler.
Shinsuke Nakamura makes his entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Alpha Academy are backstage celebrating Maxxine Dupri’s big victory when Imperium roll up.
GUNTHER asks what’s happening that Alpha Academy would make a mockery of the sport so quickly after Ludwig Kaiser got it done against Matt Riddle. He says Chad Gable isn’t worth his time and Kaiser says he wouldn’t even make it five minutes. GUNTHER says his soul could really do with dragging someone around the ring a little bit, and put that clock on the wall.
Chad says he’ll last five hours if he has to and challenges GUNTHER to leave Imperium backstage and he’ll do the same with his crew, and the Ring General accepts the challenge!
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Collar and elbow, side headlock, shot off, stomps, Nakamura with knees and Good Vibrations while Bronson Reed watches backstage! Shinsuke kicking him out to the apron, Ciampa powers up with a chop but gets cut right back down with chest kicks! Tom gets himself back into it and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Nakamura with an enzuigiri, charging in, block a kick, back rake, sliding German suplex connects, back inside... NOPE! Back and forth, Willow’s Bell connects... STILL NO! Fighting in the turnbuckles, diving Kinshasa, nobody home, kick in the corner, setting Tom up top for the corner knee!
Charging, Ciampa rocks him with a knee, underhooks blocked, folding press... IT’S OVER!
Shinsuke Nakamura wins by pinfall with a folding press and a handful of tights.
We get a recap of Bloodline business from last week’s episode of SmackDown and go to break.
Back from commercial we get a recap of our Judgment Day segment, because Raw is three hours long. (Three hours long.)
Adam Pearce visits Raquel Rodriguez in the trainer’s room and says she’s not cleared tonight, but as soon as she is, she’ll have her match against Rhea Ripley, and she has his word on that.
Brock Lesnar makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He introduces himself and runs through his bonafides for us and says if there’s one thing he knows about championships, it’s that this is fight week, the hype is over, and on Saturday at SummerSlam in Detroit, he gets paid to fight, to kick ass, against Cody Rhodes.
This Saturday, Cody Rhodes gets paid to get his ass kicked by Brock Lesnar. So cut the crap, if Cody wants to come out here and tell him otherwise, he’ll respect that, shake his hand, look him dead in the eyes, and tell him he’ll see him Saturday. Otherwise, he’ll just see him Saturday.
Enter Cody Rhodes.
Rhodes gets in the ring and stares Lesnar down before offering his hand. Brock shakes it and gets in close with him, jawing and shoving Cody back. He leaves the ring, Rhodes off the ropes... SUICIDE DIVE INTO MOUNTED PUNCHES ON THE FLOOR! Lesnar ramps Cody into the steel steps and picks them up and smashes him with them!
Rhodes gets up and Brock blasts him with the steps a second time! His music hits but Cody won’t stay down so he goes back over and picks the steps up again and hits him a third time! Rhodes manages to get back on his feet, Lesnar comes back with a knee lift and throws him into the ring.
Cody to his feet, Brock gets him up... F-5!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of what we just saw.
Chad Gable vs. GUNTHER (Five Minute Challenge)
Circling, GUNTHER jovial, test of strength, Gable goes low but the Ring General blocks and grabs a half-crab! Back to the test of strength, breaking Chad’s bridge, stomping away! Standing neck twist, back and forth, Gable dodges the chop as long as he can but GUNTHER knocks him down with a little bit more than a minute left on the clock!
Looking for the Tenryu Powerbomb, Chad reverses into an ankle lock! The Ring General breaks free with a kick, Gable with forearms, GUNTHER hammers him with a chop and gets the Gojira Clutch in! Powerbomb lift, ten seconds, Gable Frankensteiners him to the floor...
Chad Gable wins, running the clock out and lasting five full minutes against GUNTHER.
GUNTHER grabs the mic from the ring announcer and says it’s not over, demanding referee Aja Perera put more time on the lock, and she does!
Gable with a dropkick, posing, and we go to break.
Back from commercial, GUNTHER hammering Gable with chops, Chad gets a Fujiwara armbar, the Ring General to his feet and he hits a German suplex for two! Gable to his feet, elbows, GUNTHER drops him with a chop and goes for a half but Chad reverses into an Everest German suplex!
Gable looks to follow it up with Chaos Theory, GUNTHER blocks, big chops lay him out! Up for the powerbomb...
GUNTHER wins by pinfall with the Tenryu Powerbomb.
Post-match, GUNTHER stands on the announce desk and cuts a promo about how he’s gonna beat Drew McIntyre on Saturday and tells him to have a close look at what he did to Gable.
We see Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn hanging out backstage ahead of our main event.
Becky Lynch makes her entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial we get some hype for Roman Reigns appearing on First Take.
Another recap of Brock Lesnar attacking Cody Rhodes earlier plays.
Cody is interviewed by Byron Saxton.
He says Brock Lesnar could break his arm again, his ribs, his jaw, the brutality he’s brought to him, at SummerSlam he brings it to Brock and he’s going to shatter the aura of the Beast.
Becky Lynch is in the ring and she gets on the mic.
She’s earned her match against Trish Stratus and she wants to do it here and now!
Enter Trish Stratus, flanked by Zoey Stark.
She says she thought she’d do the match here and now but then she figured Becky doesn’t get to tell her when to fight. By some fluke she beat Zoey, but Trish will tell her when she fights. She’s not going to cheat Lynch out of her match, but she’s dealing with a situation, so the rematch will happen—
Enter Adam Pearce.
He says since Becky beat Zoey, her match against Trish WILL be happening right now!
Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus
Lynch flies in with a forearm but immediately Stark jumps her...
Becky Lynch wins by disqualification, presumably.
Brawling ensues, Lynch takes Stratus out to the floor but Stark plays equalizer and distracts Becky long enough for Trish to recover and smash her with a chair!
We go to break on a hype reel for Twisted Metal on Peacock.
Back from commercial, we get some hype for Cody Rhodes appearing on the Today Show this Thursday.
A recap of the Stratus/Lynch brawl follows.
Backstage, Adam Pearce confronts Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark over failing to deliver the match and books it again for two weeks in Winnipeg.
Another video package for Baszler/Rousey follows.
Sami Zayn makes his entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, commentary hypes up the SummerSlam card.
Seth Rollins makes his entrance and Judgment Day brawl with them before the bell! Seth with a big dive on Balor, fighting him back into the entry, running back to the ring, babyfaces stand tall and we go to break!
Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio) vs. Sami Zayn & Seth Rollins
Mysterio begging off at the bell, Rollins chases him out and back in and Dominik puts boots to him! Mounted punches, into the corner, punches in the turnbuckle, Seth with an electric chair, thumbs down, facebuster into the turnbuckles! Snapmare into a Penalty Kick, Mysterio stumbling around the ring, arm wringer, tag to Zayn!
Dom gets him into the corner, tag to Priest, ducking and dodging, Sami lighting Damian up with chops in the corner, diving elbow to the brain! Tags made, Rollins bringing it to Mysterio, Rhea helps her man sidestep a charge and Priest tags back in and cleans house!
Finn Balor back at ringside, tripping Seth up and smashing him into the apron to send us to break!
Back from commercial, Zayn tags in and runs roughshod over Priest! Clear the apron, Damian with a few kicks but Sami knocks him to the floor! Tope con giro takes Priest out, Zayn is fired up, tornado DDT... DOM BREAKS IT UP WITH AN AXHANDLE! Tagging in, Sami destroys him with a lariat and both men are down and their paths are clear!
Seth tags in, repeated suicide dives on Damian, springboard countered with the goozle, Rollins slips out, pair of superkicks stagger him but Rhea Ripley gets up on the apron with the briefcase for the distraction! Sami takes Dominik out, Rhea yells at him until Finn can come over and hit a dropkick, Rollins goes up top but Priest cuts him off... RAZOR’S EDGE!
Damian’s eyes light on his Money in the Bank briefcase, the straps are down, Finn grabs the case and jumps up on the apron and gives it to him after a moment’s hesitation... BEFORE HE CAN CASH IN SETH HITS A VAN DAMINATOR THROUGH THE BRIEFCASE! One for Dom too, Helluva Kick neutralizes Finn, Rollins is ready...
Sami Zayn & Seth Rollins win by pinfall with Blackout from Rollins on Damian Priest.
Sami and Seth stand tall.
That’s the show, folks.
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