Monday Night Raw Review - August 28, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Damian Priest def. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Sami Zayn

Say what you will about The Judgment Day’s feud with Zayn and Kevin Owens being done to death in recent months, but it was cool to get a first-time-ever one-on-one encounter from Priest and Zayn here. They had an enjoyable opener and Zayn was protected in defeat thanks to JD McDonagh’s interference at ringside, though Priest didn’t save McDonagh from Zayn and Owens afterward. It was an interesting development. Priest and Finn Balor will challenge for the Undisputed WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship at Payback.

The Miz Mocked LA Knight

Few people in WWE today do impersonations better than Miz. I still think back to when he impersonated The Rock before WrestleMania 27 in 2011 and the crowd in attendance legitimately thought it was Rock for at least 30 seconds or so. He nailed this impersonation of Knight and cut a strong promo about their upcoming Payback match, complete with his motivations for why he wants to win. We need this side of Miz more often. 

The Viking Raiders def. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods)

This was a rematch from a few weeks ago when New Day returned. We saw these teams work quite a bit against each other on SmackDown last year as well, and while they have nice chemistry together, I’m sure fans are sick of seeing it at this point. They got a ton of time here and it largely felt like filler, but it was a solid match, nonetheless. Viking Raiders winning gives them a much-needed credibility boost ahead of their rematch with Drew McIntyre and Matt Riddle next week.

Chad Gable def. Ludwig Kaiser by Disqualification

Gunther cutting promos standing on top of the commentary desk has been an awesome layer added to his character. He announced that he and Gable will meet for the Intercontinental Championship once again next week, this time before Gunther is supposed to break the all-time record. I love the suspense, especially since there’s a real chance Gable could win. This was a great warm-up for him before then, but it’s not like he straight-up squashed Kaiser. Rather, they had a very well-wrestled match and I’m all for Kaiser getting more chances on his own. That said, I wish Giovanni Vinci got that same treatment.

Shinsuke Nakamura Attacked World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins

This Nakamura vs. Rollins rivalry has very much exceeded my expectations so far. This is the best Nakamura has been presented on the main roster as he’s really found his footing as a heel and is killing it with the pre-taped promos. It’s also allowed Rollins to adapt more of an aggressive edge, as seen/heard in his promo here. Nakamura left him laying yet again, which was the right call as WWE needed to make him feel like a legitimate threat heading into his World Heavyweight Championship opportunity.

Tommaso Ciampa def. Bronson Reed

It’s quite clear that WWE has no plans for either of these men at the moment and that’s a shame. Both are very talented and have a lot to offer, but other than having matches with each other where they’re just trading wins back and forth, they’re really not doing anything of note. This was another hard-hitting affair, but the crowd was quiet for it and the finish didn’t come off very well.

Raquel Rodriguez Attacked Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley

I really liked the video package produced for Rodriguez with her addressing Ripley. She’s been fairly bland on the main roster, but she showed wonderful fire in that promo. Ripley also played her role extremely well here per usual and Rodriguez getting the better of her was cool because it’s so rare. This effectively built toward their championship clash and I appreciated the women getting a talking segment for a change (not counting Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus, that is).

Becky Lynch def. Zoey Stark in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

It was refreshing to have the women close out the night for a change as opposed to Rollins, Owens, Zayn, Cody Rhodes or The Judgment Day. It was a very entertaining main event to boot as Lynch, Stark and even Trish Stratus put in a hell of an effort. The final few minutes ended it on a high note as they took some big risks, so hopefully none of them are hurt heading into Payback. Stratus accidentally throwing a chair at Stark (who seemed to be okay) was a funny botch, too.

Overall Show

It legitimately does not feel like we have a pay-per-view coming up on Saturday. Has it really been a month since SummerSlam? The build hasn't been the hottest, and the lack of Bloodline is noticeable, but it's nice that they're giving some other faces the spotlight instead. All in all, this was a strong show with some excellent action and effective angles. It didn't leave me overly excited for Saturday night, but I do think it'll deliver much like every other event WWE has had so far this year.

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