Event: Monday Night Raw
Date: August 19, 2019
Location: St. Paul, MN
Results & Highlights
- Roman Reigns defeated Dolph Ziggler: Ziggler tried to gain upperhand before the match started, by blindsiding Reigns who eventually delivered a vicious spear to secure the win.
- Kings Court was interrupted when The Fiend attacked Jerry “The King” Lawler with the Mandible Claw.
- Ricochet and The Miz defeated Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin in a tag team match.
- United Stated Championship match between AJ Styles and Braun Strowman ended up in disqualification after Gallows and Anderson interfered in the match and assaulted Strowman. Seth Rollins rushed in to return the favor from last week as he cleaned house and made the save.
- King of the Ring Round 1: Samoa Joe defeated Cesaro with a Coquina Clutch in a heel vs heel match.
- Elias was interrupted in the ring by R-Truth who tried to get his hands on the 24/7 Championship. Elias survived two near falls and dodged a guitar swing to escape with the title.
- Backstage: Rey Mysterio announced that it’s time for him to hang up his mask, in an emotional interview with Charly Caruso. Mysterio’s son Dominic stepped in and stopped Mysterio as he was about to remove the mask on live TV. Dominic told him that he wants to debut alongside his father.
- The New Day vs The Revival ended up in disqualification and Big E took an RKO out-of-nowhere from Randy Orton. Kofi Kingston rushed in to save his friends but ended up taking an RKO. Orton delivered another RKO to Xavier Woods with an assist from The Revival.
- Women’s Tag Team Champions Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss defeated Fire and Desire (Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose) via pinfall.
- King of the Ring Round 1: Cedric Alexander defeated Sami Zayn with a Lumbar Check.
- Raw Main Event: Seth Rollins and Brawn Strowman defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to become the new Raw Tag Team Champions. AJ Styles tried to get involved but Strowman cleared him out. The Architect delivered a Stomp to Styles, while the Monster delivered a running power bomb to Anderson to secure the win.
Takeaways from Monday Night Raw
RIP RAW Tag Team Division
Braun Strowman effectively killed the RAW Tag Team Division last year, when he defeated Sheamus and Cesaro along with Nicholas. The division never recovered after that blow and, as things started to slowly improve, he killed it once again, this time with Seth Rollins.
Two singles superstars with no experience of teaming up with each other, defeated a well established tag team. In an episode filled with great moments, this was a major dampener.
The Fiend Returns
Bray Wyatt continued his legend killer persona on RAW, and targeted WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler. It was reported last week that WWE is trying to keep Wyatt’s character special by restricting the number of appearances he makes, and this was a great way to keep the mystique alive.
No NXT USA Announcement?
It was heavily rumored that Triple H was set to announce the switch of NXT to USA network. However, WWE apparently went back on this, and will probably make the announcement at a later date. It is unsure if Chris Jericho’s interview has got anything to do with this.
The Iconic Tournament
WWE brought back the iconic KoTR tournament for the first time in four years, and the tourney got off to a great start this week on RAW. Joe and Alexander were good choices for advancing into the next round. Alexander is in the midst of a mini push right now, which is quite good considering his abilities and performances on 205 Live earlier. Although he lost to Drew McIntyre earlier in the night, he bounced back to defeat Sami Zayn (who is descending into jobber territory).
Sasha-Lynch Rivalry Off To a Perfect Start
After an amazing heel turn last week, Sasha Banks continued her destructive run and saved the audiences from a Natalya promo once again. Lynch and Banks were kept separate from each other throughout the show, which is a nice way to keep things intriguing between the two superstars. Sasha Banks as a heel was much needed for the Women’s Division, and Banks is proving exactly why the fans were calling for a heel turn for so long.
The Wild Card Rules On
Last week it seemed that WWE were definitely phasing out the Wild Card Rule with only a handful of appearances from non RAW superstars. However, Reigns and Ziggler contested in a singles match to start the show this week, and both the superstars are from the blue brand. The show also featured Rose and Deville from SmackDown. The much criticized Wild Card Rule needs to end as soon as possible, and hopefully the hard brand split returns quite soon.
