Monday Night Raw Review - August 14, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

JD McDonagh Confronted The Judgment Day; Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Sami Zayn def. McDonagh

Judgment Day opening Raw with a promo is practically a rite of passage at this point, which is understandable given that their storylines dominate the show. They addressed their ongoing tension, which was nothing new, but McDonagh's involvement was refreshing. It will only fuel the speculation that he'll be joining Judgment Day soon. The subsequent match between McDonagh and Zayn was enjoyable. McDonagh losing despite Finn Balor coming out to ringside and Zayn being injured wasn't ideal, but it's better than him not appearing at all.

Chad Gable def. Giovanni Vinci

I liked the verbal exchange Gable had with Gunther before the bout, but I'd much rather see Gable being presented in a more serious manner. He's gotten over as a comedy character, but he won't feel like an actual threat to Gunther until he shows more of an edge. Gable and Vinci had a well-wrestled match, but the outcome was never in doubt. I hope Vinci's string of losses don't lead to him being bumped from Imperium.

Intercontinental Champion Gunther def. Otis (Non-Title)

This match was made on the spot because Gunther was upset with Vinci losing to Gable. Was this match really necessary? It felt like a time killer more than anything else. There was nothing necessarily wrong with the matchup, but there was already enough hype for Gunther vs. Gable prior to this. Speaking of which, their Intercontinental Championship clash will take place on next week's Raw. Why not hold off on it until Gunther is closer to breaking the all-time record?

Drew McIntyre and Matt Riddle def. The Viking Raiders​

Riddle was advertised as having a "mystery partner" against Viking Raiders, and they had to do that segment with him and McIntyre backstage beforehand just to ensure fans weren't getting their hopes up for a returning Randy Orton. Riddle and McIntyre were loosely aligned against Imperium heading into SummerSlam, so them teaming here wasn't all that random. It was a quality contest. We'll see if this tandem leads to McIntyre turning heel on Riddle eventually.

Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley def. Indi Hartwell (Non-Title)

Hartwell's only other Raw match since being drafted in the spring was a Tag Team Turmoil match about a month or so ago, where she and Candice LeRae were eliminated almost immediately. I'm glad she got a profile package this time, but it was a bummer that this was basically booked as a squash for Ripley. Hartwell was dominated and defeated in a matter of minutes. I understand the focus is on Ripley right now, but I was disappointed that Ripley gained nothing from this.

Shinsuke Nakamura Attacked World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins

Why Nakamura attacked Rollins last week was one of the big hooks coming into this episode, and we still don't really know. Michael Cole attempted to interview him and he responded in Japanese before adding in English that he wanted the world title. I don't hate the simple explanation, but there wasn't anything special about this segment other than Nakamura whispering something in Rollins' ear at the end that clearly concerned Rollins. Their title match will likely go down at Payback, but that was never confirmed.

Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus Ended in a Double Count-Out

There was no video package recapping their rivalry over the last four months and it didn't headline the show as I thought it might. Well, it became clear once it was over why that was. Despite this episode emanating from Canada, the crowd was alarmingly quiet. Yes, that was the case for a majority of the show, but you'd think they'd be louder for these two. It didn't help that the match wasn't great, and the double count-out finish was lame. The post-match brawl slightly made up for it, They'll (seemingly) settle their score when they face off in a Steel Cage match next week.

Cody Rhodes def. Finn Balor

Last week, I thought this would be the match for Payback, but we got it on this episode instead. It's already happened a few other times this year, but while it didn't feel fresh, they had an entertaining outing, nonetheless. More miscommunication between Balor and Damian Priest cost Balor the win, but Judgment Day again stood tall afterward with a little help from McDonagh. Sometimes Judgment Day have issues and other times there's turmoil, so hopefully we get to the next chapter of the story soon and McDonagh's involvement does pique my interest.

Overall Show

With Sonya Deville out indefinitely with an injury, the state of the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship was addressed on this episode in a backstage segment. Chelsea Green asked Adam Pearce if she could hold auditions to find a new partner (which she teased on Twitter), but Piper Niven immediately returned and proclaimed herself as Green's new partner. At least Niven's back. The rest of this Raw was a middle-of-the-road show with a tough crowd in Winnipeg. Everything served a purpose, but the three dragged more than usual. It's odd that no matches were made official for Payback with the pay-per-view coming up in less than three weeks.

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