WWE Raw Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from July 17

 

Welcome to Bleacher Report's stay protection and recap of WWE Raw on July 17 in Atlanta, Georgia.

With SummerSlam quick approaching, WWE is in full planning mode to arrange the entire matches for the occasion. One feud particularly that was superior this week was Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes.

Tag group motion was additionally a serious focus this week. The girls's tag titles have been on the road when Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez put the belts on the road in opposition to Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green, and Alpha Academy took on The Viking Raiders in a Viking Rules match.

We additionally noticed Matt Riddle lastly get an opportunity to face Gunther with out Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci at ringside.

Let's check out what occurred throughout Monday's episode of Raw.

 

The Beast Confronts His Nightmare

The Atlanta crowd welcomed hometown hero Rhodes again with open arms as he made his solution to the ring to open the present.

He spent a second speaking to the group earlier than addressing Lesnar, who he referred to as out instantly. The Beast by no means confirmed up, so The American Nightmare put the deal with his mom within the entrance row and requested the followers to acknowledge her.

As Rhodes was making ready to go away, Lesnar's music hit and he ready for a combat. The music stopped after which began up once more. Rhodes marched backstage after which got here stumbling again out after The Beast nailed him with a chair.

The former world champion proceeded to utterly demolish The American Nightmare proper in entrance of his mom. Lesnar accepted the problem for SummerSlam to finish the section.

With Rhodes being so over in his house state of Georgia, it was a sensible transfer to begin the present with this. It put numerous warmth on Lesnar and helped maintain their feud going successfully.

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• It's type of humorous to understand that we by no means get to listen to Rhodes' music for very lengthy since you begin listening to components of the track you will have by no means heard earlier than.
• You can inform Rhodes' mother has been across the enterprise for many years as a result of watching her son get beat up barely phased her.

 

Matt Riddle vs. Gunther

Riddle and Gunther met for a Money within the Bank rematch, however this time, The Bro did not have to fret about Kaiser or Vinci getting concerned due to them being banned from ringside.

The IC champion discovered himself on protection and needed to counter a number of submissions instantly. When he left the ring to regroup and Riddle adopted, Gunther took him down with an enormous chop and a physique slam to fully flip the match round.

The Ring General did his greatest to slap the soul out of Riddle's physique, however The Bro saved himself within the combat and took each single a type of brutal photographs to the chest.

After placing up combat, Riddle was unable to kick out after a powerbomb. This was a hard-hitting match that confirmed off the variations and similarities of each males. The crowd was closely invested and handled The Ring General just like the villain he's.

Winner: Gunther

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The CGI animals for Riddle's entrance have been rhinos, however Corey Graves referred to as them chubby unicorns.
• They did job making this really feel fully completely different than their MITB bout.
• Both guys had a pink chest after they traded a bunch of stiff chops.

 

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville

Judgment Day got here out to present a promo about their varied feuds and storylines. As normal, Dominik Mysterio was booed an excessive amount of to speak.

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn got here out to speak slightly trash, which led to Damian Priest difficult them to place the tag titles on the road in a match, which KO angrily accepted.

Before the promo, Rhea Ripley attacked Rodriguez and injured her knee, making her a primary goal for Green and Deville of their title bout.

We returned from a break to see the match in progress. Green and Deville saved Morgan remoted with fast tags, however it did not take too lengthy for Rodriguez to tag in and assist her companion out.

This match ended up being far more aggressive than anybody might have predicted. The crowd was noticeably extra invested as time went on, however lots of people appeared upset to see the titles change arms when Deville scored the pin on Morgan.

The girls's tag group division may by no means be absolutely fleshed out, however the groups WWE has been pushing currently are doing job of constructing the matches enjoyable.

Winners: Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Every member of Judgment Day will get a unique response from the group, which is fairly uncommon on the subject of stables.
• The method Samantha Irvin says Chelsea's identify throughout her entrance is so humorous.
• It's nice to see Deville being handled like an even bigger menace. WWE used her to place different individuals over for too lengthy.
• The method Deville broke up a pin with a working knee to Morgan regarded superior. The digital camera was within the good spot so Deville solely entered the body on the final second.

 

Alpha Academy vs. Viking Raiders

Chad Gable and Otis battled Erik and Ivar in a Viking Rules match in an try and put their feud to mattress as soon as and for all.

Otis despatched Gable into the Vikings throughout their entrance to get the combat going earlier than the ref might name for the bell.

There have been only a few guidelines, so this match was mayhem from begin to end. The props and wood ship may need been a bit a lot, however all 4 males within the ring made positive this was taken as significantly as doable.

Maxxine Dupri lastly received her Alpha Academy jacket however her celebration was shortlived due to Valhalla placing her by way of a desk.

Otis placed on a formidable efficiency, however a double powerbomb from each Vikings was lastly sufficient to place him away. This was numerous enjoyable and an ideal encapsulation of what makes WWE distinctive in comparison with different promotions.

Winners: The Viking Raiders

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• When Maxxine was posing in entrance of the ship, she type of regarded like a figurehead.
• It appeared bizarre to have Titus O'Neil on commentary.
• The method Erik slammed Ivar into Otis from the ship to the ground was a great place.
• Otis catching Ivar in midair for a slam was extremely spectacular.

 

Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross, Miz TV

Nikki Cross went proper after Shayna Baszler as quickly because the bell rang, however The Queen of Spades shortly grabbed her within the Kirifuda Clutch to get a simple submission win.

Ronda Rousey taunted Shayna from the group and the section ended with Rousey saying she would see Baszler at SummerSlam.

Winner: Shayna Baszler

Grade: Incomplete

Up subsequent was an episode of Miz TV with Becky Lynch as his particular visitor. He requested her if she has misplaced a step and it despatched her right into a tailspin.

Lynch threw the chairs out of the ring and advised him to simply cease losing time and produce out Trish Stratus as a result of she is aware of how his present works.

After numerous arguing, Trish agreed to face Becky in a match, however provided that she will get by way of Zoey Stark first. She additionally made The Man conform to thank her if she loses.

Zoey and Trish ended up attacking her in a considerably clunky method. It did not kill the section however it was actually an ungainly solution to finish issues.

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

• Rousey had a few good traces in her promo.
• The Miz performing petrified of Lynch was hilarious.

 

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bronson Reed

Bronson Reed and Shinsuke Nakamura have clashed a number of instances in latest months and so they added another chapter to their story on this week's present.

Nakamura relied on his placing capacity to maintain the massive man at bay, however Reed absorbed most of them and saved discovering methods to take him down.

They fought by way of a break and right into a second section. The longer the match went, the extra it appeared to favor Reed, which is the precise reverse of what you'd anticipate simply from taking a look at them.

Tommaso Ciampa ended up inflicting Nakamura to be disqualified when he attacked Reed, which prompted NAkamura to kick him within the face.

The match was first rate however the end makes all of it really feel prefer it was simply filler.

Winner: Bronson Reed by DQ

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Reed mocking Nakamura within the nook was actually humorous.
• Nakamura has two speeds to his kicks. Sometimes he's simply attempting to make it look good, and different instances he's attempting to make it harm.
• Adding "Big" to Reed's identify was positively a Vince McMahon resolution.

 

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens vs. Judgment Day

The foremost occasion of the evening was the tag title match that was made earlier within the night. Priest and Mysterio have been the members of Judgment Day who received to problem Zayn and Owens.

Before the match might get began, Rollins got here out of nowhere and attacked Balor. They ran to the again, leaving Judgment Day down a person.

Priest was in a position to take management for a bit, however as soon as Dom tagged in, the champs have been in a position to nook him for some double-team combos.

The match was good, however it appears like a match we now have already seen a number of instances. Ever since KO and Zayn moved on from The Bloodline, they've barely interacted with anybody apart from Judgment Day.

The crowd was having fun with the motion and everybody did job making this a strong foremost occasion regardless that the titles by no means felt like they have been at risk of fixing arms.

Morgan ran down and attacked Ripley to maintain her from getting concerned. The distraction allowed Zayn to hit Dom with a Helluva Kick for the win.

Winners: Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• The method Rollins was working within the footwear he was sporting regarded virtually cartoonish.
• The method Ripley has grown as a personality since becoming a member of Judgment Day has been a lot enjoyable to look at. She has a lot extra charisma than she did two years in the past.
• Dom did job promoting the Popup Powerbomb from Owens.

 

The Final Word

A sizzling crowd will at all times make present higher, and the group in Georgia this week was among the best we now have seen shortly.

The girls's tag titles altering arms was in all probability essentially the most stunning factor that occurred on the present. Everything else appeared devoted to organising matches for SummerSlam.

A handful of latest bouts have been confirmed for the PPV with segments that assorted in high quality, however the largest addition to the cardboard needs to be Lesnar vs. Rhodes.

Alpha Academy and The Viking Raiders may need had one of the best efficiency of the evening from an leisure standpoint, however Gunther and Riddle positively gave the group combat, too.

All in all, this was a robust week for the pink model. Let's hope the development continues as we get nearer to the PPV.

Grade: B+