Randy Orton punt kicks Drew McIntyre on Raw (WWE)
WWE Raw Results and Grades: Keith Lee making his Raw debut was one of the talking points ahead of the show.
Lee had lost his NXT title at TakeOver but bigger things were set for him. However, there was some concern as a top WWE star suffered a major injury in the opening segments of the show.
We start this WWE Raw results and grades piece with Drew McIntyre addressing the ThunderDome.
McIntyre was speaking about Randy Orton and how he beat him in the ThunderDome. He challenged Orton for another clash but was attacked at the ramp by the Viper.
Orton then hit a couple of big punts on McIntyre who had trouble getting up and walking.
Grade B
McIntyre was fine on the microphone but the punt kicks looked brutal, despite the camera angle changes.
It raises questions about their battle at Payback, especially with news coming out later on.
Bayley and Sasha Banks came out as the SmackDown Women’s champion was to face Shayna Baszler.
The pair looked sad after Banks lost her title to Asuka at SummerSlam. Nevertheless, Nia Jax caused a DQ in the match when she attacked Baszler and the tag champions decided to make a run for it.
Baszler beats Bayley
Grade C
WWE has decided to pair Baszler and Jax as they face off against Bayley and Banks. This makes little to no sense as both stars would want to win singles titles rather than tag ones, but WWE is at it again with some crazy teams.
Kevin Owens introduced Aleister Black as his guest for the KO Show. Black came with a bandaged eye but didn’t speak much.
Black acted like he got a dizzy spell and as KO tried to check up on him, Black hit him with an elbow and then a Black Mass.
Grade B
Black going heel and taking up an edgier and darker role could be great for him. He let his actions do the speaking and that has left us with more questions about what his future is on the brand.
Shelton Benjamin defended his title against Cedric Alexander, Truth and Akira Tozawa. It was Tozawa who got the win in the end as his ninjas wreaked havoc inside the ThunderDome.
Tozawa wins 24/7 title
Grade E
The title changes twice every week so it makes little sense to write about who holds the belt. Tozawa will probably lose it in his sleep on Tuesday or something.
Orton came out to speak about McIntyre and his attack on the champion. Lee then entered the ring and challenged Orton to a match but the Viper exited before the match was made official.
Montez Ford then took on Angel Garza and Demi Burnett was at ringside watching the action. Ivar got the attention of Burnett which distracted Garza and helped Ford win.
Ford beats Garza
Grade D
While Lee challenging Orton was a bold move and more was to come later on, the match between Garza and Ford was lacklustre and the ending was atrocious.
Garza and Charly Caruso were a thing and then WWE completely forgot about it, now they have Burnett of the Bachelorette doing her bit, this makes no sense at all.
Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan teamed up with Bianca Belair to take on Zelina Vega and the IIconics in a six-woman tag match.
Belair was still angry with Vega and the poisoning attempt at her husband, and took out Vega with the KOD for the win.
Riott, Morgan and Belair win
Grade C
This was a short match with Belair getting the big win but that was all that could be taken from this outing.
Mark Henry was a big surprise as he held an arm wrestling contest between Apollo Crews and Bobby Lashley.
Lashley attacked Crews but was unable to stop him from winning the contest. Crews then made a quick exit as the Hurt Business tried to attack him.
Crews beats Lashley
Grade C
Crews continues to get the better of the Hurt Business and it will be interesting to see how he does against Lashley at Payback.
Lana and Natalya first came out to mock Mickie James and it was the veteran who kicked the best friends and left laughing.
Bobby Lashley was furious at his loss and tossed Dolph Ziggler out of Underground. He then fought against another random opponent and then no one else stood up.
Orton and Lee then clashed in the ring. The pair traded some signature moves before McIntyre made an appearance and caused a DQ.
Orton beats Lee
Grade C
The match looked good at the start with Lee getting a few hits in and Orton being surprised as to how talented the former NXT Champion was.
However, the ending was a surprise especially with McIntyre clearly looking injured.
McIntyre then suffered a third devastating punt kick and Caruso confirmed that the champion had suffered a fractured skull.
Banks then challenged Asuka to a lumberjack match for the Raw women’s title. While Bayley tried to help her friend out, it was Asuka who still got Banks to tap out.
Asuka beats Banks
Grade C
McIntyre picking up an injury just before payback would mean that the title match is off. However, the clash between Asuka and Banks felt extremely messy and didn’t help either star.
Rey and Dominik Mysterio teamed up to face Seth Rollins and Murphy. Lashley was still on Raw Underground and got a couple of TKO wins over Alexander and Ivar.
While the match between the four was great, Retribution made an appearance and caused a no contest.
They attacked Rey and Dominik to close out the show while Murphy and Rollins watched on from the ramp.
Grade D
Retribution, again, didn’t answer any questions and interest is waning regarding them. Rollins vs Mysterio seems set for the future too and it will be interesting to see how things work with that.
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