WWE Raw Results and Grades 17 August 2020: Randy Orton punts another legend

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Saiyed Adeem Karim

WWE Raw Results and Grades: This was the final Raw before SummerSlam and WWE had to set some big storylines in motion before the PPV.

The big news coming from WWE was about ThunderDome but a lot of action also took place on Raw.

We start off this week’s WWE Raw Results and Grades piece with a familiar trend.

Destruction from retribution

Glitches were still on show as Drew McIntyre spoke about Randy Orton kicking Ric Flair. However, Retribution attacked a production crew and the feed was cut.

The Hurt Business were in action on Raw as we look into this WWE results and grades piece
The Hurt Business on Raw (WWE)

McIntyre wanted the Raw roster to rally behind him but Seth Rollins wanted to be the leader. The Hurt Business came out in the ring and served a warning to Retribution.

Grade C

Retribution are something that WWE should explore but they aren’t doing enough with them. It has been two weeks of destruction and yet, we know nothing about them.

Crews vs Benjamin

While MVP claimed that Apollo Crews was behind Retribution, it was Shelton Benjamin who took the US Champion on.

WWE Raw results and grades
Apollo Crews defends his title at SummerSlam (WWE)

It was Crews who got the win thanks to a distraction from R-Truth trying to run away from Akira Tozawa and his ninjas.

That led to Benjamin kicking Truth and winning the 24/7 title again.

Crews beats Benjamin; Benjamin wins 24/7 title

Grade D

Crews winning his match meant that Benjamin and Bobby Lashley are barred from ringside for the match at SummerSlam.

However, there was a lot going on in this segment, and it set up a six-man tag match for later on in the night.

Who poisoned Ford?

Angel Garza and Ivar wrestled and Andrade helped with a distraction for his partner to win. However, Angelo Dawkins played some footage backstage of Zelina Vega seemingly poisoning Montez Ford’s drink a while back, and this led to a scuffle backstage with Ford making his return and attacking Andrade and Garza.

Garza beats Ivar

Grade C

This segment felt a little rushed but no one truly knows who did poison Ford. While all fingers point to her, we didn’t get a shot of her actually dropping something into Ford’s drink.

James vs Natalya

Mickie James was up against Natalya with Lana cheering on her friend. However, it was Natalya who got a quick win over James thanks to a count out.

Rollins interrupted the match and asked how Samoa Joe knew that Rey Mysterio would be here on Raw. The Messiah then warned that if Rey or his son were here, it would be their last mistake of their lives.

Natalya beats James

Grade D

This was another segment wasted by WWE as the women clashing gave way to Rollins coming out. The Messiah getting his own segment against Joe would have been better. James returned to action after months but there was no real push regarding this.

Baszler and Asuka team up

Shayna Baszler and Asuka teamed up to face The Golden Role Models. Bayley and Sasha Banks claimed that they would beat Asuka at SummerSlam before the match took place.

Baszler was distracted by Nia Jax and they started fighting in the crowd while Asuka was left in a tough spot.

However, Baszler made a return at the right time as she and Asuka locked in submissions to get the win.

Baszler and Asuka beat The Role Models

Grade B

The match and story telling were on point in all this. Bringing Jax into this match was a decent move too, however, it will be interesting to see how things take place at SummerSlam.

Royce vs Riott

Billie Kay was to fight Ruby Riott but couldn’t compete and Peyton Royce took over. It was Royce who picked up another win over Riott.

Royce beats Riott

Grade C

Getting to see more of the women is a great thing but WWE needs to liven up this rivalry a bit more. Rather than having just wrestling segments, it can be a lot more, especially with the IIconics being good on the microphone.

Mysterios take out Rollins

Rey and his some, Dominik, came out on Raw and the senior Mysterio spoke about how helpless he felt as his son was pummelled last week.

Rey confirmed he would be in Dominik’s corner for SummerSlam. That saw Rollins and Murphy come out but Rey distracted them as Dominik let rip with the kendo sticks.

The Mysterios attacked Rollins before Murphy saved the Messiah.

Grade B

Rey’s promo felt emotional and it will be interesting to see if he is involved during the SummerSlam street fight match.

The Mysterios seem to have a plan for Rollins and the match should be a good one.

Six-man tag

The Hurt Business took on Crews, Ricochet and Mustafa Ali in a six-man tag. MVP questioned Cedric Alexander as to why he wasn’t selected for the match, especially since it was a six-man elimination tag match.

However, when Benjamin was eliminated from the match, Alexander ran in to win the 24/7 title.

The other match continued and it was the Hurt Business who got the win after eliminating their rivals and then attacked Crews.

The Hurt Business win

Grade B

This was a strange match as Ali and Ricochet didn’t do much in the clash. However, it did show that Crews is a strong champion as he fought against the odds, despite a losing cause.

There was more confusion regarding the 24/7 title with Benjamin reclaiming it from Alexander after Akira Tozawa tried to get it.

Raw Underground

There were a couple of segments of Raw Underground in between all of the matches. First, we had Dolph Ziggler defeated Erik before he was attacked by Ivar after the match was done.

Later on, Arturo Ross and Riddick Moss fought each other before beating up the crowd around them.

Marina Shafir got a win in this before Jessamyn Duke was taken out by Jax. Baszler also appeared again on this segment and confronted Jax.

Grade B

This was a far better Underground than we have seen. There were proper matches and actual fights for people to see. Hopefully, WWE can flesh this out and we get something great.

Ford vs Andrade

Ford took on Andrade and while El Idolo was able to get control of the match, it was Ford who got the win after Bianca Belair took out Vega.

Ford beats Andrade

Grade C

This was too short a match for another great to come out from the rivalry. WWE has to add more fire in all this, even if they are treating this as a poisoning angle and not something more serious.

HBK is here

Shawn Michaels spoke about how Randy Orton didn’t appreciate having a legend like Ric Flair on his side.

Orton came out and landed an RKO on Michaels before punt kicking him. Drew McIntyre came to check up on Michaels and this allowed Orton to hit the champ with an RKO too.

Grade B

This was as good as an ending as possible with Michaels getting attacked. Orton taking a shot at McIntyre before their battle at SummerSlam was great too, and it sets up an exciting title clash.

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