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RAW: Bálor struggles to make a judgement call

Joseph Casciaro

WWE is just five days away from SummerSlam and tonight was the go-home episode of Raw for the biggest party of the summer.

Tonight’s show kicked off with The Maverick of WWE, Logan Paul, just last week Paul was taken out by Ricochet after they made their match at SummerSlam official. Paul quickly called the Houston crowd braindead and proceeded to target Ricochet, saying last week he was trying to introduce him to his following, but instead, he was sneak-attacked and abused.

He said because of Ricochet’s antics last week on Saturday he will beat him in the most viral match in WWE history. Ricochet now made his way out, he said last week he was in Paul’s livestream, but now he’s in Paul’s head. He then agreed with Paul saying that their match at SummerSlam would be box office and he followed that by saying he respects Paul as an athlete and showman, despite hating Paul as a human being.

Paul points out Samatha Irvin. Credit: WWE

Paul then said Ricochet was the most entertaining man in WWE before he showed up and that their match has been building since they stole the show in the Royal Rumble match back in January. He said this weekend they will put on a hell of a match and Paul then pointed out that Raw’s ring announcer is Ricochet’s fianceé, Samantha Irvin. Paul was hoping that Ricochet would be okay with his girl saying, “And the winner is, Logan Paul.”

That was all Ricochet needed to hear and the brawl was now on. Unfortunately for Ricochet, the brawl ended with him being knocked out by Paul’s titanium fist.

Jackie Redmond was now interviewing Imperium, asking Gunther if he is worried about how dominant Drew McIntyre has looked since his return. Gunther said he does not focus on the past and this Saturday at SummerSlam he will personally end McIntyre once and for all.

Ludwig Kaiser w/Imperium vs. Matt Riddle

Kaiser was looking to prove himself to Gunther in this match after losing to McIntyre just last week and disappointing The Ring General.

This was a great battle of two different styles, Kaiser was hitting stiff kicks and uppercuts while Riddle was getting his high flying in with a Floating Bro. At the end of this fantastic match, Kaiser hit a running enzigiri followed by his signature DDT to get the victory and re-earn the respect of Gunther.

Winner: Ludwig Kaiser

One of the main events of SummerSlam this Saturday is the rubber match between Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar and tonight both men were live at Raw. But before we got to see them live in the arena WWE treated us to an AMAZING video package showcasing this feud that has been ongoing since April. WWE really never misses on their video packages.

Brock was the first to make his way out and he introduced himself to the crowd before listing all of his accomplishments. He said with all his experience he knows that the hype is now over and it is officially fight week. This Saturday he gets paid to fight and kick Cody Rhodes’ ass and Rhodes is also getting paid, but he’s getting paid to get his ass kicked.

Brock said he’s been at Raw long enough and he just wants Cody to come to the ring and shake his hand so he can get out of Houston. Rhodes made his way out, dressed to fight and with a different look in his eye than usual. He got into the ring staring into the soul of The Beast, but Brock just laughed in his face. Nonetheless, Cody still extended his hand and Brock shook his hand, but he followed that by brushing Cody as he walked out of the ring.

Cody made a mistake tonight. Credit: WWE

Cody didn’t take well to that and dove out of the ring onto Lesnar igniting the brawl. This was quite the mistake on Cody’s part as Brock picked him apart, hitting him with the steel steps three times and following that with an F5.

Later in the night, Cody was backstage with Byron Saxton and he said he will punish Brock this Saturday the same way he has been punishing him since April.

Maxxine Dupri w/Alpha Academy vs. Valhalla w/The Viking Raiders

This is the very first singles match for Maxxine and she was going to have quite the challenge in Valhalla. Dupri was actually doing quite well and it seemed like she was about to get the win, but then Erik of The Viking Raiders got involved leading to a brawl outside the ring. Despite the brawl, Maxxine was able to hit Valhalla with an electric chair to get her very first singles win.

Winner: Maxxine Dupri

Judgement Day has been on quite the run recently and with Finn Bálor set to challenge Seth Rollins for the World Title this Saturday they were now gracing us with their presence. They said that Raw is their world now and anyone who does not fall in line will just be put on the shelf.

Bálor now had some words for Rollins, he said that every week Rollins comes out and pretends to be insane, but he does not know true insanity. He said true insanity is the way he feels about what happened at SummerSlam seven years ago, and this Saturday he will give Rollins some scars of his own.

Ripley then said if anyone is thinking of getting in their way, they should take a page out of Raquel Rodriguez’s book and hide away. With that said Rodriguez made her way out and the brawl was on between the two powerhouses of the women’s division. Rodriguez was picking Ripley apart, but that’s when Dirty Dom distracted her and allowed Ripley to attack Rodriguez’s already injured knee.

Now a Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey video package…yawn.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Ciampa came back to the main roster white hot, but that has crumbled very quickly. He won his first match but has now lost to The Miz, Bronson Reed and Shinsuke Nakamura. Sigh.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

Gunther vs. Chad Gable

Earlier tonight, Gunther said he wanted to throw someone around and he thought Gable would not even be able to last five minutes against him. So that is what led to this match and five-minute challenge for Gable.

To the shock of Gunther, Gable managed to last the five minutes, but the match was not over yet. Despite lasting five minutes and a very impressive showing, in the end, it was Gunther finishing off Gable with a powerbomb.

Winner: Gunther

After the match, Gunther got up on the announce table and said everyone needs to get used to celebrating his accomplishments. He followed that by saying what he did to Gable is nothing compared to what he will do to Drew McIntyre on Saturday.

Becky Lynch was now in the ring and she has earned herself a rematch with Trish Stratus after defeating Zoey Stark last week. She wanted that fight with Trish on Raw, but Trish had other ideas saying nobody tells her when to fight. Trish accompanied by Stark said she will tell Becky when she can have her rematch, but Adam Pearce then made his way out saying the match is actually happening right now!

Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus

The bell rang to start the match and just five seconds later the match was over. As soon as the match began Stark jumped in the ring to start beating down Lynch with Trish. With the double team and a steel chair, Stratus and Stark left Lynch down and out.

What a terrible segment.

Winner: Becky Lynch via DQ

See ya in Winnipeg Trish. Credit: WWE

Due to Trish and Stark’s antics, Pearce then announced that in two weeks in Winnipeg Trish will be facing Lynch again, but this time Stark is banned from ringside.

Sami Zayn & Seth Rollins vs. Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio

Before this match even began Rollins and Zayn ignited a fight as they wanted to combat the number’s game before it could hurt them. Rollins sent Bálor packing to the back in order to keep this match two on two.

Even though it seemed like Bálor was gone he returned once the match began, attacking Rollins from behind while the referee was distracted. The number game would work for Judgement Day, but once Priest got the idea to cash in his Money in the Bank mid-match everything went downhill.

Bálor hesitated to give Priest his briefcase so Rollins had the chance to recover and he managed to hit Priest with a Stomp and get the win.

Winners: Sami Zayn & Seth Rollins

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