WWE RAW – August 14th, 2023 (Winnipeg- Manitoba/ Canada)
Around 9,500 fans ensured a nearly sold-out house at WWE Raw at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg (Manitoba). The Canadian fans came to see Trish Stratus against Becky Lynch, among others!
Turmoil in the ranks of Judgement Day
-Judgment Day was looking to be dominant at the start of WWE Raw.
It didn’t take long for Damian Priest to make the ambiguity about Finn Bálor’s position an issue. Bálor had once again not accompanied his Judgment Day colleagues to the arena.
At this point, instead of Finn, his friend JD McDonagh came running to the ring. He delivered a message from Bálor: Judgment Day should not worry about their relationship with Finn, but rather worry about Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn.
Rhea Ripley was not amused by the instructions from a middleman. JD was instructed to tell Finn that they needed to talk.
At this point Sami Zayn came running to the ring. An exchange of blows with JD McDonagh broke out. Judgment Day preferred to retreat instead. Meanwhile, WWE official Adam Pearce set the first match of the night.
Sami takes revenge against JD
•Sami Zayn def. JD McDonagh via Pinfall with the Helluve Kick•
McDonagh had attacked Zayn backstage the previous week, which caused an elbow injury.
Sami gave everything now, despite his problems with his elbow. Among other things, he came close to a possible victory with a Michinoku Driver.
Finn Bálor appeared in the arena after a while and then wanted to interfere in the match. When Bálor climbed to the edge of the ring, he was fought off by Zayn.
Immediately Sami hit the Helluva Kick and got the pinfall victory over McDonagh.
Piper Niven declares herself Chelsea Green’s tag team partner
-WWE official Adam Pearce was on the verge of declaring the Women’s Tag Team Titles vacant in his office following Sonya Deville’s injury.
“I worked too hard for this,” Chelsea Green groused, threatening Pearce to call in Human Resources.
Pearce wanted to know what Chelsea had for alternative suggestions. Green said she could hold a talent contest and find a new partner.
At this point, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter came forward as title contenders.
And then Piper Niven stomped into the office and snatched one of the tag team belts. She left Chelsea no choice and appointed herself Green’s new partner.
-Cody Rhodes talked about the Judgment Day leaders in a backstage interview. Rhodes was scheduled to face Finn Bálor later in the evening.
Chad Gable shows he’s ready for GUNTHER
-GUNTHER perched on the commentary table and talked about becoming the longest reigning Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion of all time in just a few days. The Austrian acknowledged Chad Gable’s good performance from the previous week, but called his title chances ridiculous.
Chad Gable now came to the ring with Alpha Academy. He assured that he had been waiting for a chance like this for 10 years. But today Gable should first meet Giovanni Vinci.
Before it came to that, Ludwig Kaiser again made eyes at Maxxine Dupri and made European elegance palatable to her. Maxxine, however, acknowledged the efforts with a slap in Kaiser’s face.
•Chad Gable def. Giovanni Vinci via Pinfall with the Chaos Theory•
Giovanni Vinci tried amongst other things, with the Finlay Slam against Gable. When he then tried to deliver a Powerbomb, however, Gable landed on his feet.
Immediately Gable followed with the Chaos Theory for the clear victory.
GUNTHER spoke up. This was not the way the evening between the two teams was supposed to end. Without further ado, he challenged Otis to a match.
Gable slams GUNTHER again
•Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER def. Otis in a non-title match via Pinfall with a Powerbomb•
In this match, Otis got into position to caterpillar. He tore his shirt from his body and went into the theatrics of the signature move.
At that moment, however, Gunther stopped him with a Big Boot. Then followed a show of strength: GUNTHER pulled off the Powerbomb against Otis and got the win.
When the decision was made, Chad Gable was immediately in the ring. He surprised GUNTHER with a German Suplex.
Imperium retreated – and Alpha Academy continued to hope to end GUNTHER’s IC reign soon.
-Later in the show, Imperium had a discussion in the backstage area. GUNTHER disliked the performance of his subjects. Giovanni Vinci had disappointed him since moving to Raw. Ludwig Kaiser had lost his focus with his interest in Maxxine. Kaiser assured him that this would now be the end of it.
GUNTHER had heard enough. He wanted to settle the matter on his own – and put his title on the line against Chad Gable next week.
-Backstage, the Judgment Day meeting occurred. JD McDonagh jumped into the conversation. Finn Bálor asked his friend to step away for a moment. Finn looked ready to set the record straight and act in the spirit of Judgment Day. For the moment, all four members of the grouping seemed to be pulling together again.
McIntyre & Riddle = It seems to fit
-Drew McIntyre was about to talk about his future in a backstage interview when he was interrupted by Matt Riddle. Riddle was looking for a tag team partner for tonight. When he wouldn’t stop talking, Drew said when asked if he would back Riddle, “I’m considering it!”
•Drew McIntyre & Matt Riddle def. The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar); McIntyre pinned Erik via Claymore Kick•
At the start of the match it seemed unclear whether McIntyre would actually appear. When he did show up shortly before the ring bell rang, Riddle was very happy.
The Viking Raiders caused their opponents some problems. In the closing stages, Riddle was able to take out Ivar with a Twisting Moonsault outside the ring.
Erik came back into the ring at this point, picked up speed against Drew McIntyre, but cashed in a Claymore Kick and was pinned.
-So which tag team should challenge for the titles next? The New Day proposed to take on Riddle and McIntyre next week. Matt liked this idea and accepted the challenge on behalf of his partner Drew.
Two former The Way members unite against Rhea Ripley
•Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley def. Indi Hartwell in a non-title match via Pinfall with the Riptide•
Because Raquel Rodriguez is still injured, Indi Hartwell now wanted to draw attention to herself. The two Australians have known each other for 11 years, but Ripley was clearly ahead of her in terms of career success.
Indi was joined at ringside by Candice LeRae, who had also tangled with Ripley the previous week. As the match shifted to the front of the ring, Rhea surprised Candice with a forearm hit to the back.
Back in the ring, Indi delivered a roll-in against Rhea for a 2-count. That woke up Ripley, who followed up with a massive headbutt and won the match with the Riptide.
Following that, Candice went after Rhea. That put Hartwell in position to pull off a Flapjack on Ripley. Candice followed with a Back Senton before LeRae and Hartwell quickly parted ways.
Shinsuke Nakamura surprises Seth Rollins again
Michael Cole wanted answers from Shinsuke Nakamura during an in-ring interview after his surprise attack on World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, the previous week.
However, Nakamura answered all questions in Japanese.
That called out Seth Rollins, who confronted Shinsuke. His message: “I’m a fighting champion. All you had to do was ask for a title match!”
Rollins, for his part, called for the match against the Japanese superstar, saying Nakamura should pick the time and place for his thrashing.
But now, according to Seth, Shinsuke should show that he has balls in his pants and shake his hand.
It came to a handshake. However, Shinsuke whispered some words into the ear of the World Heavyweight Champion and then left the ring.
Seth was so irritated by these words that he forgot about his rival for a moment. Nakamura came back into the ring and surprised Rollins again with the Kinshasa.
-The Miz talked about LA Knight in a backstage interview on WWE Raw. He was less than impressed with Knight’s victory over Top Dolla. Next week, he said he will defeat an opponent who is bigger, faster and stronger than any man Knight has been able to defeat. Miz also held out the prospect of stopping by SmackDown.
Trish and Becky have to go into the cage!
•Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch ends with a double countout (No Contest)•
The months-long rivalry between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus was supposed to end in this singles match. Zoey Stark had been banned from the ring, so there should be a clear decision … but then everything turned out differently!
In the hottest phase of the match Trish cashed in a suplex from the ring ropes. Afterwards Stratus wanted to run away from Becky. The fight shifted to the crowd without further ado.
This led to a double countout!
The ladies didn’t care: the brawl continued in the rows of spectators and then even shifted to the entrance area of the arena.
Trish threw her opponent among other things with merchandise! Suddenly, a black-masked person was on the scene and attacked Trish. Zoey Stark quickly made herself known.
With the help of Zoey, Stratus was able to finish a Chick Kick against Lynch.
-WWE official Adam Pearce confronted Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark backstage a short time later and was incensed at how the evening had gone: “Next time, no one gets counted out – and no one interferes! Because next time, it’s a steel cage match!” Possibly a match for the upcoming WWE premium live event (“Payback” on September 2nd).
Money in the Bank briefcase curse continues
•Cody Rhodes def. Finn Bálor via Pinfall with the Cross Rhodes•
Cody Rhodes briefly lost control of the main event on WWE Raw when Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley came to ringside.
Later, when Cody had just finished the Disaster Kick, Damien Priest also entered with his MITB case.
The Judgment Day overhead lurking of the match put Cody Rhodes on his back foot. A chair came into play, but the referee caught it.
The official was discussing with Ripley. At that moment Damian Priest, pushed his MITB case into the ring.
Instead of Bálor, Cody got his hands on the case. He hammered the case to Bálor’s head, knocking Priest off the edge of the ring as well.
The Cross Rhodes followed – and Cody managed the pinfall victory against Bálor.
JD McDonagh puts Judgment Day on track
Now Judgment Day gathered and went after Rhodes. This called Sami Zayn on the scene, who brought a chair.
Judgment Day got into trouble – until JD McDonagh attacked Zayn from behind.
McDonagh now watched as Judgment Day brutally attacked both crowd favorites.
For Cody, there was the Coup de Grace in the ring.
Sami first was hit with a Priest Chokeslam and then a Double Foot Stomp, which Bálor placed on him outside the ring with a running jump over the ring steps. Finally, there was the Razor’s Edge by Priest against Sami through the commentary table. For the grand finale, Bálor again delivered the Coup de Grace against Cody.
With a reunited and dominant Judgment Day, this edition of WWE Raw ended!
-Lenny Wrestling
*Photo courtesy of NBC Sports
WE LIKE SPORTZ SHOW 