WWE Raw preview (Aug. 21, 2023): Shinsuke Nakamura has a very interesting secret

Raw airs tonight (Aug. 21) with a live show from the Centre Videotron in Quebec City, Quebec. This is the third episode of Raw during the four week build towards Payback, which takes place on September 2.

Shinsuke Nakamura has a very interesting secret

World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins responded to a recent attack from Shinsuke Nakamura by granting him a title shot at the date and location of his choice. It’s reasonable to assume that title match will go down at Payback in less than two weeks.

When Seth confronted Shinsuke last week, he suggested that Nakamura’s desire for championship gold isn’t sufficient to explain his heel turn. There must be more to the story. To that end, Nakamura whispered something in Seth’s ear. Rollins appeared to be taken aback or befuddled by whatever Shinsuke said to him. He was so stunned by Shinsuke’s words that it allowed Nakamura to slide back into the ring and deliver another knockout blow to Seth via Kinshasa.

So, what exactly did Nakamura say to Rollins? What is his secret motivation for going after the champ? WWE says we’ll find out tonight on Raw straight from Nakamura himself.

The rest of the title scene

Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER defends the gold tonight against Chad Gable. Will Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser redeem themselves in the eyes of the champ by helping him retain the belt, or will his constant beratement of them end up backfiring?

Cody Rhodes and WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens have a score to settle with The Judgment Day. Given that Raw is in Quebec tonight and Owens wrestled over the weekend, it would be surprising if he didn’t make his return to Raw tonight after missing a few weeks with a broken rib.

Piper Niven is apparently now a WWE women’s tag team champion after naming herself as Chelsea Green’s new partner. But Katana Chance and Kayden Carter have extra motivation to take those belts away after Piper laid them out last week.

Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley made quick work of Indi Hartwell last week. Maybe next time she’ll have to beat both Hartwell and Candice LeRae in a handicap match, while awaiting Raquel Rodriguez to be medically cleared to return for a title shot.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- Matt Riddle is trying to form a new tag team with Drew McIntyre. They scored a win over the Viking Raiders last week in their first match together as a unit, but the competition gets much more difficult tonight when they mix it up with New Day. Is there a chance that Drew gets fed up with Riddle’s nonsense and decides to just kick his head off?

- Becky Lynch finally got her hands on Trish Stratus last week, but their rematch ended in a double count out draw. As a result, they’ll do it all over again in a steel cage match, most likely at Payback. That gives Trish and Zoey Stark time to come up with a plan to thwart The Man again.

- The Miz made a huge mistake when he showed up on SmackDown and cost LA Knight a shot at becoming the top contender to the United States championship. Don’t be surprised if the megastar makes an appearance on Raw looking for payback.

- Johnny Gargano is missing. Will anyone help Tommaso Ciampa find him?

- Shayna Baszler didn’t get to torture anybody last week on Raw. I’m sure that will change tonight.

- After momentarily resurfacing at SummerSlam, free agent Omos has disappeared again.

What will you be looking for on Raw?