 Brock Lesnar Attacked Cody RhodesRhodes is obviously a Georgia native, so this Atlanta crowd was into him more than most (though he gets stellar reactions everywhere he goes these days). This was simple yet effective with Lesnar not coming out when Rhodes wanted him to only to ambush him in the back and beat him up in front of his mother at ringside. He also officially accepted his SummerSlam challenge. The crowd ate this up. Now the next step is adding some sort of a stipulation. Intercontinental Champion Gunther def. Matt Riddle (Non-Title)The rest of Imperium were barred from ringside. That ensured Gunther would win clean, which he did, but he won clean without Imperium's help at Money in the Bank, too. Regardless, this was another very fun match from these two. There wasn't as much focus on Riddle's "injury," so they were able to go out a bit more and have the matchup I knew they were capable of. Drew McIntyre mentioned last week he wouldn't be around this week, but he and Gunther will go face-to-face next week. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens Accepted The Judgment Day's Championship ChallengeEvery member of Judgment Day took turns discussing their dominance of Raw and their various rivals at the moment. Dominik Mysterio in particular got massive heat from the crowd per usual. That brought out Owens and Zayn, who made their previously-announced tag match with Mysterio and Damian Priest a title match. WWE has been doing this a lot lately where they'll either make impromptu matches or raise the stakes of matches already announced. I assume the idea is to make the show feel more must-see and to send the message than anything can happen. This was a solid segment. Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green def. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez to Win the WWE Women's Tag Team ChampionshipRhea Ripley injured Rodriguez's backstage beforehand, so that gave her and Morgan an out for losing. The match benefited from the injury angle because it made you think there was a chance they could lose the titles. Ultimately, they did and it was the right call, even though I wasn't expecting it. If we're getting Ripley vs. Rodriguez at SummerSlam, Rodriguez shouldn't be holding the tag titles going into the event. This match didn't get a ton of time, but they certainly maximized their minutes. Finn Balor Attacked World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" RollinsThis took place backstage, which definitely added to the intensity when they spoke. Rollins was doing a sit-down interview with Byron Saxton and Balor interrupted almost right away. He demanded a title opportunity and Rollins said they could settle their score in a fight without the belt being on the line. Balor attacked Rollins anyway, setting up the SummerSlam match. This was well done as I appreciated Rollins taking a serious approach in his response to Balor, but I just don't have much interest in another rematch between these two. The Viking Raiders def. Alpha Academy in a Viking Rules MatchThe weekly matches involving these teams haven't been the most exciting, but the crowds have been really into Alpha Academy lately and it's cool to see. Viking Raiders aren't as over, obviously, but I liked that they won here because it can earn them an opportunity at the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship. This was only the second-ever Viking Rules match and it exceeded my expectations in being a blast. On a side note, was there a reason Titus O'Neil was on commentary for this? Shayna Baszler def. Nikki CrossFun fact: This was an NXT Women's Championship match at an NXT TakeOver event almost exactly five years ago. This, on the other hand, was over within seconds. I'm all for booking Baszler in dominant fashion, but I remain confused whether she's supposed to be a babyface or not because she beat a heel Emma last week and a babyface Cross this week. Post-match, she and Ronda Rousey again went back and forth on the mic Becky Lynch Attacked Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark on Miz TV Hosted by Miz TVI applaud taking the long-term storytelling route with Lynch and Stratus these past few months, but I'm definitely ready to move beyond this feud and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way. The material in their promos has been fine, but they aren't connecting with the crowds, probably because they don't care. Lynch agreed to all of the heels' stipulations and thus she'll face Stratus at SummerSlam if she can beat Stark next week. They made it sound like Lynch would have to get a chest tattoo if she loses to Stratus, which makes it extremely predictable Lynch is winning. Bronson Reed def. Shinsuke Nakamura by DisqualificationWWE has apparently given Reed the nickname of "Big", but like Dominik with "Dirty", it isn't being used in his entrance introduction. Okay, then. We've seen a lot of Nakamura vs. Reed since May, so although this wasn't exactly fresh, it was well wrestled while it lasted. Tommaso Ciampa attacked Reed after Reed cost him his match against Miz last week, and Nakamura hit Ciamapa afterward out of frustration. Turning Nakamura heel would be the wrong call given how over he is with the audience if that's the direction they're headed in. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens def. The Judgment Day (Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest)If you think Owens and Zayn have cooled off since WrestleMania 39, you're fooling yourself. They've been the MVPs of Raw for months along with Rhodes and Rollins and performances like this one prove why. This was a very entertaining main event and my only nitpick is that it wasn't saved for SummerSlam. Then again, I understand why because there doesn't appear to be much room left on the card. Morgan took out Ripley at ringside and that allowed Owens and Zayn to win (relatively) clean, so there's no current need for a rematch. Overall ShowThe show started off hot with the first hour, died down a little in the second hour, and ended on a high note with that tag team title match. All in all, it was an enjoyable episode. Three matches were announced for SummerSlam, stuff was set up for next week, there was some above-average wrestling, and the Atlanta crowd was electric throughout. This was one of the stronger shows Raw has produced in at least the last month or so and the SummerSlam card is coming together nicely.
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