WWE Raw preview (July 31, 2023): Sami Zayn is moving on without Kevin Owens

Raw airs tonight (July 31) with a live show from Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. This is the final episode of Raw during the five week build towards SummerSlam, which takes place on Saturday night.

Sami Zayn is moving on without Kevin Owens

WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens won’t be defending the belts at SummerSlam. That much seems clear after The Judgment Day turned KO into one of their latest victims. He was injured in a backstage attack last week while Zayn was busy wrestling Dominik Mysterio in a singles match. As a result, it looks like Owens will be out of action for at least a few weeks.

When one member of a tag team is injured, sometimes their partner is stuck in creative limbo. But that’s not the case with Sami. He’s moving on to join forces with World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins tonight in a tag team match against Mysterio and Damian Priest.

The babyfaces are looking for payback after they were laid out by The Judgment Day at the very end of last week’s show during a contract signing between Rollins and Finn Balor. Finn is challenging Seth for the gold at SummerSlam, so he’s hoping his Judgment Day stablemates can weaken Seth’s body in this tag match with less than one week to go until the title fight.

And don’t forget, Damian Priest still holds that Money in the Bank contract. A lot of folks assume his cash-in will happen at SummerSlam, but if the opportunity arises tonight, will he really pass it up just so Finn can get first crack at Seth this weekend?

The rest of the title scene

Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER received a rude awakening last week when he was powerbombed through a table by Drew McIntyre. Has the Ring General bitten off more than he can chew by stepping into the ring with Drew at SummerSlam?

It’s not clear how long Liv Morgan will be sidelined after she was brutally assaulted by Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley. How soon will Liv’s partner Raquel Rodriguez return to Raw looking for a piece of the champ?

Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville lost their very first match after becoming the new WWE women’s tag team champions. That’s just par for the course when it comes to WWE’s booking of these belts.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes will both be “under one roof” tonight. Assuming it’s the roof of the Toyota Center, does that mean there is a pull-apart brawl coming our way on Raw?

- Logan Paul was humiliated once again by Ricochet last week and has vowed to pop his stupid, bald head. Perhaps the YouTube douchebag will get the chance to do exactly that when he makes another appearance on Raw tonight.

- Maxxine Dupri vs. Valhalla is booked for tonight’s card. This is Maxxine’s first singles match on Raw. Will she pick up the win by using Otis’ caterpillar?

- Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler aren’t interested in having a wrestling match at SummerSlam. No, they want to FIGHT. Does that mean traditional pro wrestling rules will be discarded in favor of something that more closely resembles an MMA fight?

- Becky Lynch earned a rematch with Trish Stratus after defeating Zoey Stark last week. Lynch vs. Stratus is still not on the books for SummerSlam, but it feels like a foregone conclusion that’s where the rematch will happen. Will Trish and Becky have one final promo in the ring tonight to make it official?

- Shinsuke Nakamura is sick of idiots like Tommaso Ciampa getting involved in his matches, so he returned the favor during Ciampa’s match against Big Bronson Reed last week. Ciampa is a dummy who allowed himself to be distracted by Nakamura slowly walking to the ring, leading to his defeat. Is Ciampa vs. Nakamura happening tonight, or will they have to wait to get their hands on each other until maybe the Slim Jim Battle Royal at SummerSlam?

What will you be looking for on Raw?