Like the Rolling Stones (Google them, kids) once famously said, you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need. Becky Lynch really wants another match against Trish Stratus, and if she tries hard enough tonight on WWE Raw in Tampa, she may get what she says she needs — probably at SummerSlam.
Standing in her way is leading Stratus disciple Zoey Stark, who definitely is no relation to Tony. One of the few people who’s actually been willing to thank Trish the way she wants, Stark needs to win to keep her mentor from getting her hands dirty, as well as ensuring The Man gets a tattoo she’d definitely prefer not to have on her person.
Naturally, this all seems to be setting up for Stark to lose and the two stars of different WWE generations to have a showdown in Detroit next month. But hey, that’s why we watch. I thought for sure LA Knight would have received a push by now too, which just goes to show you never know.
Another big part of Raw will be seeing face to face meetings between pairings who seem even more guaranteed to be joining the SummerSlam card. By this we mean Ricochet and Logan Paul, as well as Drew McIntyre and Gunther. If both of these gatherings end peacefully, let’s just say that would be a heck of a parlay if there were prop bets allowed on WWE programming in the U.S.
(Which they aren’t, and that’s a good thing IYAM.)
Anyway, this could be a water-treading type show on the way to SummerSlam, but WWE has surprised to the upside more than once this year, so let’s see what happens.
WWE Raw results from Tampa:
The Judgment Day is already in the ring when the show begins, but someone is missing … oh yeah, Dirty Dom. They don’t only run Raw, but all of WWE thanks to “unbeatable” Rhea Ripley, Senor Money in the Bank Damian Priest and future World Heavyweight Champion Finn Balor.
But the man of the hour is, alas, Dominik Mysterio, and clips are show of his victory over Wes Lee to become the NXT North American Champion. With lots of help from his teammates, of course.
Sporting a huge grin despite all the boos raining down, Mysterio joins his teammates carrying his new gold. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn join the fun and admit the crowd is disrespecting him … because no one respects him.
But Sami has an idea for that to change: if Dom takes on Sami tonight in Tampa. Further, if Mysterio is a fighting champ like he says he is, he’ll put his title on the line. Rhea Ripley accepts on his behalf, so the die is cast.
Becky Lynch def. Zoey Stark by pinfall
KP and Corey Graves remind us of the stakes here: Lynch needs to win, or else she gets no match with Trish Stratus and has to get “thank you Trish” tattooed on her body. Where is unclear.
Stark hits some impressive early moves that show off her athleticism. When things start turning against Stark, Stratus provides some hands-on assistance, but The Man is still able to kick out, much to Trish’s dismay.
Lynch escapes the Z-360 and takes Stark up top for a superplex, but she’s not able to apply an armbar and Zoey powerbombs her for another close near fall. After they go back and forth a bit, Lynch catches Stark in mid-air for a Manhandle Slam, and Stratus looks dismayed as she sees the ref count the three.
A hype video is shown for Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar that once again calls it “one of the main events of SummerSlam.” Tsk, tsk.
Rhodes heads for the ring for what figures to be his weekly mic time. He wants to talk about Lesnar beating him up with a chair in front of his mother, Cody says he wasn’t surprised, and his mom wasn’t impressed, given what she’s seen in wrestling throughout the years.
Brock made a mistake, he continues, by leaving him breathing. Now Rhodes doesn’t want to go to SummerSlam just to win a rematch, but to embarrass Lesnar. Goals are good.
Ricochet is glad Logan Paul accepted his invitation to show up tonight but anything he has to say, he’ll say to Logan’s face.
Dominik Mysterio def. Sami Zayn by pinfall to retain the NXT North American Championship
The Judgment Day is on hand to support Dirty Dom, but KO is there as well, and much happier than the others to see Zayn get off to a strong start. The shenanigans begin during a commercial break, and the ref sees enough, first ejecting Owens and later all of Mysterio’s teammates as well.
Corey Graves loves it as Dom builds some momentum … that is halted by a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall. Mysterio responds with a 619 and his own two count.
The boos rain down as the Three Amigos are all on target, but a frog splash finds no one home. An exploder sends Dom into the corner, but Zayn halts as he sees The Judgment Day roll a beaten up KO out on the stage. Dom quickly rolls up Sami and gets the three to escape with his gold.
Adam Pearce and Zayn look concerned as Owens wonders if his foot is broken.
The weekly SmackDown Bloodline recap shows Roman Reigns and Jey Uso invoking Tribal Combat at SummerSlam.
Ricochet asks Shinsuke Nakamura if he’s seen Logan Paul, then Shinsuke gets a visit from Tommaso Ciampa. He doesn’t want to see Nakamura out there during his match with Bronson Red or else they will have a problem.
Shinsuke says nothing in response, like the legend he is.
Apollo Crews doesn’t like The Judgment Day picking on people and steps to Damian Priest. Meanwhile, Akira Tozawa, who cleared out when the heels asked if he had a problem with them, slides back in and tells Crews “you got this.” Heh.
Bronson Reed def. Tommaso Ciampa by pinfall
Ciampa is not holding up well against Reed’s power. Maybe hopping on Bronson’s back for a sleeper will work? Not when he falls straight back. Yikes.
A knee shot on the outside looks like it might turn things around for Ciampa. But can he keep the momentum going? He’s giving it his best shot with a modified Fame-Ass-Er.
Reed is surprised when he just plops down seated on Ciampa’s chest (as a counter to a sunset flip) and sees his foe kick out. Somehow, Tommaso gets Bronson up for an Air Raid Crash, which unfortunately doesn’t end it.
Right on cue, here comes Nakamura down the ramp. That gives Reed the opening he needs for a Tsunami, and that’s lights out for Ciampa.
Byron Saxton gets a Raquel Rodriguez injury update from Liv Morgan, but Liv wants to deal with Rhea, who caused that injury, tonight. You may recall that she’s the last person to defeat Ripley. Source? Liv Morgan.
Saxton tries to throw it back to Graves and KP, but tag team champs Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville are upset about not being interviewed. They seem mad that “everything revolves around” Ripley but quickly change their tune and vamoose when Rhea shows up. She says she warned Raquel and Liv to stay out of her business, and now … well, you see where she’s going.
Rhea Ripley destroys Liv Morgan in lieu of having a match
Ripley catches Morgan with a blindside show on her way to the ring, which goes badly for Liv. Rhea has a steel chair too, and wears Morgan out before a ref and another official finally show up.
They aren’t enough to stop Rhea from stomping on Liv’s arm with the aid of the chair.
“This is my division, you’re lucky you’re living in it,” Ripley taunts while backing up the ramp.
Alpha Academy congratulates Viking Raiders on their win but challenges them to an Academy Rules match in return. Maxxine Dupri also wants Valhalla in her first singles match ever next week.
Ricochet heads to the ring and calls for Logan Paul to “show your stupid face.” He says everyone knows Paul doesn’t belong here, even though he’s put in the work. Ricochet admits Paul might even be special, but he’s special every day of the week. No, it’s because Paul is an “arrogant little prick.”
The least surprising twist comes next, as Ricochet challenges Paul to a SummerSlam match. Alas, Paul is right behind him and lays him out before streaming his acceptance.
Logan keeps mocking Ricochet but takes his eye off the ball, and he gets hit with a standing Shooting Star Press after a superkick so he ends up looking dumb.
Shayna Baszler is tired of hearing Ronda Rousey’s name every time hers is mentioned. She says she’ll settle things in a language only Rousey understands: She’s going to fight Ronda Rousey.
Saxton calls Ricochet’s actions “unprofessional as hell” and vows to pop Ricochet’s “stupid, bald head” next week on Raw.
Damian Priest def. Apollo Crews by pinfall
Priest tries to take Crews off his game right from the start, but Apollo proves more than resilient enough to fight back. Senor Money in the Bank rallies back after just a few minutes, however, and finishes things with a South of Heaven.
Lynch is feeling good now that she’s got her rematch, but as she said before, it ain’t over ’til she wins.
Valhalla issues a warning back to Dupri, as one does.
Gunther and his Imperium mates come to the ring for the Intercontinental Champion’s face to face showdown with Drew McIntyre. The Scottish Warrior gets right to it, daring Gunther to put his title on the line tonight in Tampa. The champ scoffs at that, running down Drew’s perceived failures before saying he accepts and will “humiliate you again” at SummerSlam.
McIntyre says he wants to tell a story first about wanting to have a WrestleMania singles match with Sheamus, and that they had it for about 10 minutes before Gunther slid in and won it. But SummerSlam will be one on one, and McIntyre will beat Gunther’s ass.
Ludwig Kaiser takes exception to that, and McIntyre tells Kaiser he actually likes him, and that maybe he should be leader of Imperium. Kaiser still finds that disrespectful, so it appears they are headed for a match next.
Drew McIntyre def. Ludwig Kaiser by pinfall
Poor Kaiser is about to get served up here. He eats some hellacious chops while Graves does his Ludwig impression that is honestly pretty spot on. But Kaiser is actually looking good heading into a commercial break.
But an avalanche Air Raid Crash changes that in a hurry, and now Kaiser is getting manhandled. Ludwig actually counters a Claymore with a timely dropkick for a near fall. Alas, a second Claymore wins it for McIntyre.
Literally seconds after the bell, Imperium rushes the ring to beat up McIntyre. Matt Riddle rushes down but is handled by Gunther, who powerbombs him and then takes out McIntyre by the announce table.
The IC champ then clears off said announce table, but Drew backdrops his way out of trouble and powerbombs the Ring General through the announce table.
Jackie Redmond asks Rousey about what Baszler said about a fight, and she accepts it.
Finn Balor tells the fans that Adam Pearce was supposed to moderate the contract signing, but he’s had his hands full tonight. But since he and Seth Rollins are both professionals and both want this match, Finn believes they can settle things like gentlemen.
And since the World Heavyweight Champion comes out and promptly signs his name, maybe Balor is right. Finn pauses and lingers before doing the same, which leads Seth to taunt him about having zero chance to win at SummerSlam.
If by some chance Balor does win, Rollins suggests Priest will cash in his MITB briefcase right then and there — which Finn would also do if the roles were reversed. The champ suggests that SummerSlam will be the end of The Judgment Day as a result.
That motivates Balor to sign, smirking at how Rollins thinks he has everything figured out. And here come the other members of his group as Balor says the losing he’s done over the last seven years has been driving him insane, all because of Seth.
Seven-year itch? No, at SummerSlam, Finn is going to make Seth “my seven-year bitch.” Priest clocks Rollins with the briefcase and considers a cash-in, but Zayn rushes down with a steel chair. Unfortunately, he gets beaten down as well, and Priest plants him with South of Heaven.
Rollins also gets a Razor’s Edge from Priest, a Frog Splash from Dom and a Coup de Grace from Balor. The Judgment Day stands tall, backing up their boasts that they run Raw as the show goes off the air.
