Monday Night Raw Review - August 21, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Kevin Owens Saved Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Sami Zayn From The Judgment Day

The reaction Zayn received here from the Quebec crowd mirrored the ones he was getting over Elimination Chamber weekend back in February. The man is a god in Canada, much like Owens, who returned from injury here. He was only gone for a few weeks, but you'd think he was gone for months based on that pop. I'm happy he's healed and he and Zayn can resume their rivalry with Judgment Day. This was a strong segment to start the show and set the stage for the night's main event.

The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) def. Matt Riddle and Drew McIntyre

Both teams are babyface, so the crowd didn't really rally behind one team over the other, but it was an enjoyable outing, nonetheless. Riddle and McIntyre are working out fine as partners, but I don't have any interest in them being a long-term tandem. A heel turn for McIntyre would be the way to go, but I know McIntyre has been skeptical about that in the past. The Viking Raiders jumped both teams afterward, so New Day will face Viking Raiders again next week.

Chad Gable def. Intercontinental Champion Gunther by Count-Out

I was surprised that this was happening on Raw and not being saved for Payback. Well, we now know why. I guess the rematch could happen on Raw as well, but it would make more sense for Payback, days away from Gunther becoming the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time. You'll get no complaints out of me because this was an excellent match and a rematch could be even better. These two have wonderful chemistry together and I'm glad this has turned into a full-fledged feud.

Cody Rhodes Addressed the Audience

Byron Saxton started this interview backstage, but Rhodes took it out to the stage. He didn't say much of note, but he did address Judgment Day and the tension within their ranks right now, foreshadowing his involvement at the end of the show. I assume he'll be kept busy with them for the time being until WWE is ready to put him in the World Heavyweight Championship picture.

Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley def. Candice LeRae (Non-Title)

Ripley squashed Indi Hartwell last week, so it was only academic that she take on LeRae this week. Unfortunately, she didn't fare much better than Hartwell. In fact, this may have been an even shorter squash. It did LeRae no favors, but I realize this was about giving Ripley another dominant showing. Post-match, Raquel Rodriguez announced she was cleared and that she'll be challenging Ripley for the Women's World Championship at Payback.

Akira Tozawa def. The Miz

Miz cost LA Knight his match against Austin Theory on Friday's SmackDown, so it only made sense for Knight to return the favor by showing up here. Then again, Knight didn't do anything. Miz was dumb enough to be distracted by Knight at ringside, but Tozawa pretty much won clean otherwise. It was a nice little match and Miz losing hardly matters because he's lost so much this year already. Knight vs. Miz feels like a lock for Payback.

Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark Interrupted Becky Lynch

This feud has been all over the place since it started, and although I appreciate it being blown off on pay-per-view instead of on Raw, dragging it out this far has proven to be a mistake. They have nothing left to say at this point and Stratus' mic work has gotten worse. For the second straight week, a Canadian crowd did not give a shit about her. This segment sucked, but at least they established it will be Lynch vs. Stark in a Falls Count Anywhere match on next week's Raw.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Piper Niven and Chelsea Green def. Katana Chance and Kayden Carter (Non-Title)

The women's tag team scene is a dead division in WWE and the company is largely to blame for that, even if untimely injuries have been a big problem this year. I'm all for Niven getting some shine (the pre-match vignette for her was a nice touch), but I wasn't a fan of her and Green squashing Chance and Carter in under two minutes considering Chance and Carter are one of the only actual female teams WWE has left. Who are they supposed to defend against next?

The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and Damian Priest) def. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens by Disqualification (Non-Title); Cody Rhodes, Zayn and Owens def. Judgment Day (Balor, Priest and NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio)

Balor and Priest vs. Zayn and Owens ended rather quickly after Owens got disqualified for hitting Balor with the Money in the Bank briefcase, but it turned into a six-man tag team match when Rhodes made the save for Owens and Zayn. The babyfaces won again, but it was logical in this case so the Canadian heroes Zayn and Owens could get their moment. The Judgment Day dissension continues, but there was no significant development in the storyline here. This was an entertaining main event that the crowd was once again into, but we've seen a lot of variations of the same match for months now, so I'm ready for what's next for all involved.

Overall Show

It's amazing how much of a difference a crowd can make. Winnipeg was beyond dead last week, whereas Quebec was super lively throughout this episode and made it more fun than it would have been otherwise. Owens coming back was notable and I dug the house show-style main event (despite it being more of the same), but the best parts of the episode were Shinsuke Nakamura's pre-taped promo explaining what he said to Seth Rollins last week and Gunther vs. Gable. Those things were enough to make this a thumbs-up edition of Raw for me, even if some of the other stuff was weaker.

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