Monday Night Raw Review - August 19, 2024

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

World Heavyweight Champion Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser Attacked Randy Orton

The latest verbal exchange between Gunther and Orton was a good one. It provided additional hype for their World Heavyweight Championship clash at Bash at Berlin and Kaiser helping Gunther laying Orton out set the stage nicely for the main event between Orton and Kaiser. It was a fairly simple segment, but it accomplished what it needed to and Gunther garnered strong heat from the crowd.

Sheamus def. Pete Dunne

I appreciate that time was taken to build this bout up because it allowed the audience to see Dunne as somewhat of a threat to Sheamus, whereas that wouldn’t have been the case a month ago. Granted, Dunne still lost, but he was made to look super credible in defeat. They had an excellent outing, and despite the clean finish, I hope the feud continues so they can have more matches (and so Dunne can eventually get one over on Sheamus).

Maxxine Dupri vs. Ivy Nile Ended in a No Contest

Did the bell ever actually ring? It’s possible this was never an official match, but it wasn’t long before the lights went out and The Wyatt Sicks went after American Made. I had no issue with the approach because it’s not as Dupri vs. Nile would have been a barn burner, anyway. This served to set up Uncle Howdy vs. Chad Gable for next week’s Raw, which I’m glad we’re finally getting.

Drew McIntyre Accepted CM Punk’s Strap Match Challenge for Bash in Berlin

I've seen a lot of negative feedback to this promo online and I understand why given how Punk pandered to the crowd and whatnot. That said, was it really that big of a deal? He was doing the same thing for months in AEW when he first returned to wrestling and it was cool to see him happy for a change. Let the man be happy, damnit! In all seriousness, this wasn't the most compelling mic work from either guy, but at least they made their Strap match for Bash in Berlin official.

Odyssey Jones and The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) def. The Final Testament (Karrion Kross and The Authors of Pain)

Kingston and Woods seemed to patch things up beforehand backstage, but Woods was clearly annoyed when Kingston tagged in Jones instead of him at one point. Will they actually split up? I doubt it, especially since they were a cohesive unit here, but there might be more story left to be told with New Day. This did feel like the blow-off to their feud with Final Testament, though. It was a well-worked six-man tag team affair, but I’m ready for everyone involved to move on.

Bronson Reed def. The Miz in a No Disqualification Match

Reed destroyed Miz with several Tsunamis after beating him last week, so I was surprised that Miz was cleared to compete (in storyline) a week later. The No Disqualification stipuatlion made the match more enjoyable and Reed going over decisively was once again the correct outcome. Braun Strowman emerged afterward, so they’ll face off next week. I had pitched that as a potential matchup for Reed in Seth Rollins’ absence and I’m happy WWE is going through with it. Will they do the age-old “break the ring” spot?

Damian Preist vs. "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio Went to a No Contest

I was totally fine with the match not actually happening since they can always save it for down the road, but I wasn't fond of two no contest finishes happening on the same show. Aside from that, this was well done. The crowd was into the brawl and The Judgment Day needed to get some of their heat back by getting the better of the babyfaces before the big mixed tag team matchup.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn def. Pure Fusion Collective (Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark) and Damage CTRL (IYO SKY and Kairi Sane) in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match

This was one of the better women's tag team matches we've gotten on Raw recently, mostly because it was given some time. All three teams had quality chemistry and it was well paced, especially down the stretch. Fyre and Dawn are already scheduled to team with Blair Davenport against Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill and Naomi on Friday's SmackDown, so I didn't think there was any uncertainty surrounding the outcome here.

Randy Orton def. Ludwig Kaiser

Orton winning was never in doubt, but Kaiser gained a lot from this performance a lot like Dunne did in the opening match. It was perfect timing, too, with The Undertaker having just praised Kaiser on his podcast. He has a bright future ahead of him and he's making the most of every opportunity he's getting. It was a fairly standard main event, albeit a fun one. The post-match brawl between Orton and Gunther was cut short due to the show going off the air, but apparently Orton laid out Gunther with an RKO and posed with the World Heavyweight Championship.

Overall Show

There was a classy tribute for Pat McAfee at one point as this marked his final night on Raw for a while as he leaves to focus on his college football duties. Although this edition of Raw wasn't on the same level as the last two weeks, it was solid on the whole. The wrestling was once again entertaining and several storylines were progressed. In addition to hyping Bash in Berlin, I appreciated that multiple matches were announced for next week's Raw and there was build for each of those as well.

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