A Room with a Review: Raw 08/17/20

It’s the last Raw before SummerSlam and the last one at the Performance Center. Can we still call it a go-home show if we never leave the house anymore?

• WWE Champion Drew McIntyre kicks off the show. He’s here to talk about what Randy Orton did to Ric Flair last week. During his promo, the graphics on the screen go crazy. A camera goes into the production truck and Retribution is busy wreaking havoc. They force a producer to cut to commercial. 

• After the commercial break, Drew has moved backstage and is rallying the troops. Seth Rollins interrupts and says Raw already has a leader. Tempers flare, but no punches are thrown. 

• The Hurt Business heads to the ring and tells Retribution to come on down. MVP thinks Apollo Crews and his buddies may be behind the totally not Antifa group. Crews comes out to answer these accusations. Apollo has a proposition for MVP: if he can beat Shelton Benjamin, then Lashley and Shelton will be banned from ringside during their match at SummerSlam. 

• One commercial later and the match is official. R-Truth comes running by with his 24/7 title, distracting Benjamin and allowing Crews to steal a victory. The Hurt Business storms the ring, but Ricochet, Cedric Alexander, and Mustafa Ali show up to even the odds. During the hubbub, R-Truth runs by again. This time Shelton clotheslines him and puns Truth to become the new 24/7 Champion. MVP then challenges Crews to a 6-Man Elimination tag team match. 

• Demi the Bachelorette is still hanging out backstage. Angel Garza is chatting her up and gives her a rose. Ivar rolls up and gives her a turkey leg. 

• After another commercial, it’s Ivar w/ Erik vs. Garza w/ Andrade and Zelina Vega. Demi is watching on a monitor backstage and Angelo Dawkins slides into her DMs. Garza gets the win, but gets interrupted by Dawkins and Demi on the TitanTron. 

• Charly Caruso catches up with Demi, Dawkins, and The VegaBoys. Angelo tells somebody to play a tape. The tape shows Zelina Vega doing something to Montez Ford’s red Solo cup. She says Charly doctored the footage and Tez comes flying in from offscreen to attack Garza and Andrade. 

• Next up is Mickie James vs. Natalya w/ Lana. During the match, Seth Rollins and Murphy go to the announce desk and demand to know how Samoa Joe knows that the Mysterios are here tonight. Joe says he will not reveal his source. While that’s going, Nattie wins via count out. 

• The Golden Role Models are here to talk about Asuka facing each of them in separate championship matches at SummerSlam. Shayna Baszler interrupts and calls dibs on whoever ends up the Raw Women’s Champion. Asuka joins her and we’ve got tag team action. Shayna gets thrown outside and Nia Jax blasts through the plexiglass to attack her. Pat Buck and some referees try to escort her out, but Shayna gets up and attacks. They fight through the crowd to the back, leaving Asuka to fend for herself. Sasha has the Bank Statement applied when Shayna returns and breaks the hold. Baszler gets Bayley to tap to the Kirifuda Clutch. 

• Shawn Michaels talks to Drew McIntyre about Randy Orton.

• The IIconics have a run-in with Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan backstage. The Riott Squad walks away, but the camera notices Shayna Baszler talking with Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke, her friends from her MMA and NXT days.

• Next up is Peyton Royce w/ Billie Kay vs. Ruby Riott w/ Liv Morgan. While Liv is arguing with Kay outside, Royce pushes Riott into the two of them. She picks up the win with the Deja Vu.

• It’s Raw Underground time. Erik squashes a jobber and Dolph Ziggler talks trash. Erik calls Ziggler out and we’ve got a match. Dolph applies a rear-naked choke and uses a thumb to the eye to beat Erik. Ivar rushes the stage and throws Ziggler into the crowd.

• Rey and Dominik Mysterio head to the ring. Rey says he may never recover from what Seth did to his eye, but nobody will stop him from protecting his son. Seth and Murphy appear on the TitanTron. Rey says come get some, and Rollins says they’ll be right there. They head to the ring, but the Mysterios think better of it and slide out of the ring. While Rey has them distracted, Dom grabs some kendo sticks and they take batting practice on the Messiah and his Disciple. 

• MVP chats with Cedric Alexander backstage. He says the offer to join the Hurt Business still stands. 

• More Raw Underground as Arturo Ruas faces Riddick Moss. They fight until the two of them roll off the mat and Shane breaks them up.

• Time for 6-Man Elimination tag team action. It’s Apollo Crew, Ricochet, and Mustafa Ali vs. Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Lashley, and MVP. Ali is eliminated quickly by Lashley after a Dominator. Benjamin takes out Ricochet almost as quickly with Paydirt. Apollo eliminates Shelton, then Cedric comes down and pins him, too, to win the 24/7 Championship. After a commercial, Crews eliminates MVP with the toss power bomb. Lashley is the last one standing, though, getting Crew to submit to the Full Lashley. 

• Cedric already has a 24/7 title defense. He beats Akira Tozawa with the Lumbar Check. Shelton Benjamin slides in the ring and hits Paydirt to get the belt back.

• Marina Shafir makes her Raw Underground debut, jobbing out a redhead. Nia Jax shows up and knocks her to the floor. Shayna jumps up to the platform, but as soon as they ring the bell, Nia powders.

• The main event match for the night is Andrade w/ Garza and Vega against Montez Ford w/ Angelo Dawkins. Ford picks up a roll-up victory on a distracted Andrade.

• The last segment of the evening is Shawn Michaels coming to yell at Randy Orton for punting Ric Flair. Randy comes out of nowhere, as he is wont to do, and hits an RKO on Michaels, followed by a punt to the head. Drew McIntyre runs down to help. He chases Orton off twice, but Randy still sneaks his way to an RKO on the champ.

This wasn’t a bad show but I’ll excited to see where things go after the PPV. And I like how sparingly they are using Underground.

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