The disputes that will make up WWE SummerSlam have been developed extensively in the less than two weeks before the event.
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Welcome to the highlights and review of WWE Raw from Tampa, Florida, on July 24. The disputes that will make up SummerSlam have been developed extensively in the less than two weeks before the event. Logan Paul looked to be preparing for his match against Ricochet, Seth Rollins and Finn Bálor signed their contracts for a contest at the pay-per-view on August 5, and Gunther and Drew McIntyre got into a fight. Additionally, Bronson Reed and Tommaso Ciampa squared off, and Becky Lynch and Zoey Stark engaged in a match with a unique rule. Let’s review what transpired in Monday’s episode.
Rhea Ripley, Damian Priest, and Finn Bálor entered the ring as Raw got underway. They were introduced by the announcer Samantha Irvin before they each briefly talked. Before bringing out Dominik Mysterio with the new NXT North American Championship, they boasted about controlling Raw. As usual, when Dom attempted to speak, the audience booed him as loudly as they could. A few video packages highlighting their most recent achievements were played.
When Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn interrupted The Judgement Day, there was a big cheer. Dom was screamed at by KO, who instructed him to stop talking at all costs. Ripley finally agreed to let Dom compete against him on the show after being provoked by Zayn. While laying the stage for the rest of the event, this segment was largely uninteresting. It appeared that they might have achieved the identical goal with a one-minute interview or backstage section.
Stark faced off against Lynch first, but this wasn’t just any singles match. If Lynch won, she would face Trish Stratus again, and if The Man lost, she would have to get the name of the WWE Hall of Famer tattooed on her chest. Though the Man may have had more at stake, both ladies were combative right away. Little more than two minutes had passed before Stark unleashed a springboard dropkick that sent Lynch flying.
Lynch was able to kick out at two despite Stratus intervening and hitting a headbutt with her protective mask. She and Stratus will probably square off for the last time at SummerSlam thanks to The Man’s comeback and Manhandle Slam for the pin and victory. Stark and Lynch gave another outstanding performance in this one. As opponents, they’ve already established chemistry, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see WWE keep them together for a while.
To the customary cheers, Cody Rhodes entered the room to discuss his impending SummerSlam encounter against Brock Lesnar. The short, uninterrupted commercial lasted only a few seconds. Sami Zayn entered the ring for his contest with Dominik Mysterio following the conclusion of The American Nightmare. They began with a basic lockup and some rope running. In order to send us into a commercial, Zayn clotheslined his opponent out of the ring and executed a massive dive over the top rope.
After the break, Rhea Ripley hit Zayn with a cheap shot that was replayed, but when we came back, he was still firmly in charge. Because Kevin Owens was attempting to prevent Damian Priest from interfering, the referee ultimately had to remove him from the ringside area. Later, the referee also took Priest and Ripley out of the game. Zayn was nearly knocked out by Dom’s clumsy counter to the Blue Thunder Bomb, but he got up and hit it again for a near-fall. Ripley and Priest were spotted attacking KO on the stage as Zayn was getting ready to deliver his finisher.
Dom pounced on the opportunity and rolled Zayn up for the pin. This was a decent battle despite a few errors. Zayn undoubtedly contributed to the load’s bearing, but Dom also had some enjoyable moments. The ending wasn’t the worst way to end the match because Dirty Dom wasn’t going to relinquish the title and having him defeat Zayn cleanly wasn’t an option.
Since Bronson Reed and Tommaso Ciampa have been headed towards conflict since last week, Adam Pearce scheduled a battle between the two men for Monday in an effort to resolve their issues. Despite having his own problems with Reed, Ciampa was seen telling Shinsuke Nakamura prior to the fight that he doesn’t want him to get involved. After the bell, Ciampa immediately attacked the large man, but the Australian easily outweighed him and tossed him out of the ring.
To allow himself some breathing room, the 38-year-old executed an inverted DDT, but Reed immediately rose to his feet. They exchanged some chops as Ciampa started to get hot under the collar. Throughout the bout, Ciampa made several futile attempts to hoist Reed, but the 34-year-old was simply too heavy to carry. Eventually, he was able to lift Reed for an air raid crash to get a two-count.
Ciampa immediately recognised Nakamura as he casually strolled down the aisle. The Artist was instructed to leave, but Reed was able to hit a shoulder block from the apron due to the confusion. He rolled Ciampa into the ring before scoring the winning Tsunami. This was much milder than anticipated, but for the moment when Ciampa lifted Reed onto his shoulders. It was surprising that there wasn’t more physical contact between the two men as they both appeared to be vying for the upper hand during last week’s backstage promos.
The Eradicator ambushed Liv Morgan from behind as she was on her way to the arena for her match against Rhea Ripley. When she stepped on the former women’s tag champion’s arm, she beat her down and inflicted additional injury with a steel chair. The fight was called off when officials arrived to check on Morgan and eject Ripley from the ring. After yet another commercial break, Ricochet called Logan Paul out, telling him, “It’s time for you to show your stupid face.”
The YouTuber suddenly attacked The One and Only from behind as he carried on with his derogatory remarks. Before the high-flyer leaped to his feet and delivered a kick to the face followed by a standing shooting star press, he accepted Ricochet’s SummerSlam challenge and spoke down to the audience. Although it accomplished its job of preparing the audience for their upcoming showdown, this episode was probably the least captivating so far. Ricochet at least made a stylish contact with the shooting star press.
Apollo Crews and Damian Priest were paired up in a singles match following an altercation backstage. Before this week, these two have only competed as a team in one tag team competition and one singles match, respectively. As soon as the bell sounded, The Archer of Infamy kicked Crews in the face, but it only knocked him out for a little while. In no time at all, he was standing again and performing a moonsault off the apron.
After regaining control, Priest hit South of Heaven for a clear victory. It was encouraging to see a member of the group act independently considering how heavily The Judgement Day relies on interference. Despite the brief duration of the contest, both men performed admirably in it.
The Scottish Warrior challenged The Ring General to immediately put his title on the line during Drew McIntyre and Imperium’s in-ring segment. Gunther naturally declined but provided a substitute. At SummerSlam, he declared he would defeat McIntyre. After some discussion, the Scot and Ludwig Kaiser decided to fight, and after the break, the match began with the arrival of the referee. Kaiser was giving up a small amount of size to his opponent. The German grappler is equally tall, but he lacks McIntyre’s physical mass, thus the Scot was able to control the tempo until Giovanni Vinci distracted his partner to give his partner an unfair edge.
When we came back from the commercial, McIntyre hit White Noise from the middle turnbuckle. He killed Kaiser with a Claymore a short while afterwards. He was attacked by Gunther and Vinci until Matt Riddle rushed to his aid. Everyone engaged gave a really good performance in the end. The SummerSlam match between Gunther and McIntyre might wind up becoming the Match of the Night.
Seth Rollins and Finn Bálor signed their contracts for their World Heavyweight Championship showdown at SummerSlam as Raw came to a close. No one was present to supervise the signing, though. Rollins, Bálor, and the table were all that were present, thus they conducted business alone. The remainder of The Judgement Day suddenly appeared around the ring as they continued to trade insults and discuss their shared past. According to Bálor, Rollins is solely to blame for his seven-year-long steady descent into insanity. The champion made every effort to avoid the ensuing assault by striking first, but the numbers game proved to be too much for him.
When it appeared that Priest might want to cash in, Bálor and Priest exchanged short looks, but Sami Zayn intervened with a chair before anything else happened. Zayn was eliminated by The Judgement Day before The Visionary was defeated by all four members to close the night. Although this was expected, it was executed effectively. Given that The Bloodline has all but disintegrated, it is evident that The Judgement Day is a priority for WWE, and the company is doing an excellent job of promoting them as the most powerful group.
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