WWE RAW Rebound (08/23/21): Some Rivalries Started, Others Renewed

9 min readAug 24, 2021

Photo credit: https://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2021-08-23

The RAW and SmackDown after a big Pay-Per-View is always a time for WWE to reset its rivalries and storylines.

RAW started out as a reset, then turned into the same old story it has been for the last year.

Lashley Has a New Challenger?

The “All Mighty WWE Champion” Bobby Lashley and MVP opened the show by cutting a promo on how Lashley destroyed OLDBERG and his son Gage in Vegas Saturday night, and that Lashley could beat up every single one of the people sitting in the Pechanga Arena in San Diego. The crowd booed and out came the new United States Champion Damian Priest. Priest called Lashley a bully and challenged him to a match. MVP told Priest he had just made a mistake, and Lashley — who was in a suit and tie — was going to get get changed, and then he was gonna beat his ass!

RAW goes to commercial, and then it comes back to Lashley remaking his entrance. I thought this was a nice touch to show how dominant Lashley is that the “All Mighty” gets two entrances in the first 15 minutes off the show. I was excited to see this new, fresh matchup, but my excitement quickly vanished when the former U.S. Champion Sheamus ran down to the ring (still wearing his protective mask for some reason) and attacked Priest to cause the disqualification. Drew McIntyre ran down to the ring and threw hands with Lashley, helping Priest clear him and Sheamus out of the ring as we headed to another break.

Back from the break, and we got an impromptu tag match between McIntyre and Priest vs Lashley and Sheamus. It was a good match, and it’s always fun to see McIntyre mix it up with both the WWE Champion, and the “Celtic Warrior”. The match ends when Lashley walks out on Sheamus because he had enough of fighting both babyfaces, and Sheamus eats a Claymore from the “Scottish Warrior”.

Later in the night, we see Sheamus argue with Lashley, and WWE booked a match for the two next week.

So, we got a fresh match between Lashley and Priest, but that only lasted a few minutes before we saw two rivalries renew war for 20 minutes. Next week, we’re going to see Lashley and Sheamus go one-on-one again, and I didn’t forget their history when Sheamus was chasing the WWE Title in February.

And no, Sheamus is not a heel. WWE just has nobody for Lashley t face until Goldberg returns for his rematch in Saudi Arabia, and Sheamus is a big guy, so I guess why not, right?

RK-BRO is THE Main Event of RAW

RK-BRO main evented RAW with their celebration of their tag team title win. At SummerSlam, Riddle promised Orton he would have a surprise for him at RAW, and I was so hoping it was Orton’s own scooter, and I was correct! Orton didn’t seem too pleased with that, nor did he seem too pleased with Riddle’s balloons blocking the top rope, so he couldn’t do his signature pose, but that’s ok because Orton and Riddle are officially the best team on Monday nights!

However, Styles and Omos had something to say about RK-BRO’S celebration. Styles pulled the microphone out of Omos’ jacket, which was a nice little addition to the segment. The “Phenomenal One” said Riddle can’t beat him, and that he hasn’t beaten him one-on-one since Riddle got called up to SmackDown last summer (I liked Styles addressing that history when he was Intercontinental Champion!). Riddle responded by saying he may not have been able to beat Styles before, but now Orton’s on his side, and when RK-BRO is in stereo, there’s nothing they can’t do! Styles challenged Riddle to a match, and Riddle accepted by telling Styles he was going to beat him with the three most destructive letters in sports entertainment: RKBRO! RAW heads to its final commercial with Styles comically yelling, “That’s five letters you idiot!”

We’ve seen Riddle and Styles wrestle so much that the opening first few minutes of the match didn’t get me too hyped, but when Orton attacked Omos with the scooter Riddle gave him, this match got exciting fast! Orton pounded the colossus with the scooter in both the rib cage area and on the head, distracting Styles just enough to allow Riddle to hit the Bro Derek for the win. Omos carried Styles out of the ring as RK-BRO celebrated for the win.

I feel like I say it in almost article I write now, but man do these four have great chemistry, and they are the best thing about RAW. Riddle finally conquered his Alan Jones demands. Will Styles and Omos have the last laugh though when they get their title rematch, presumably at Extreme Rules?

Miz and Morrison are no Longer Moist

Moist TV kicked off the 9 p.m. EST hour with John Morrison getting ready to host Moist TV with YouTube sensation and WWE fan Logan Paul.

There was only one problem… San Diego couldn’t stand Logan Paul.

They booed everything about him. I don’t think WWE expected it because Paul was clearly supposed to be the good guy in the segment. He wasn’t… at all!

Miz quickly came out and cut a promo on how Logan’s brother Jake is fighting this Sunday in Miz’ hometown of Cleveland (also my home town), and San Diego booed LOUDLY for both Miz and Paul (What did Cleveland ever do to you, San Diego?! I mean, we have ripped you off in baseball trades, but that’s no problem!)

That’s when Morrison stepped in and him and Miz got into it over everything while Paul slowly backed away. Miz blamed Morrison for distracting him for months with squirt guns instead of focusing on winning. Miz even mentioned he went from being WWE Champion to playing with water in four months because of Morrison! Ouch!

Morrison said Miz never lets Morrison have the spotlight. Miz responded by saying Moist TV was a complete rip off of Miz TV (which is true by the way!).

Xavier Woods came out to stop the bickering, and Morrison accepted a match for the Miz against Woods, which Miz lost because of Morrison. Miz had Woods rolled up, but Morrison distracted the ref with his drip stick spraying everywhere, so by the time he saw Miz covering Woods, Woods had flipped the roll up on Miz and pinned his shoulders to the mat.

The avid gamer would celebrate with his trombone outside the ring as Morrison and Miz stood in the ring together. Miz looked PISSED, and you could tell he was about to turn on his best friend, and… he did, striking him in the back of the head. He beat him down for a few minutes and ended the segment with a Skull Crushing Finale to “Johnny Drip Drip”.

Later in the night, Morrison backstage said there’s no more music videos, there’s no more dripsticks, there’s just gonna be a beatdown of the Miz… next week!

A few thoughts here.

I liked the heel turn by Miz. In 2009, when Miz got drafted to RAW, he turned on Morrison. 12 years later, he does it again, but it makes sense. Morrison has distracted him over the last few months, and Miz was only WWE Champion for eight days in large part because Morrison ran his mouth to Lashley. The “Best Tag Team of the 21st Century” lost to Damian Priest and Bad Bunny at Wrestlemania in embarrassing fashion. It’s best for these two to go their separate ways. They’ve feuded with every team they possibly could have for now, and they could always make up later!
The fact they are doing a match against one another so quickly to me says Miz is needed on SmackDown in the Intercontinental Championship picture once the draft hits, and Morrison could enter a WWE Title program with Lashley as a face. Miz needs to get back as a great mid-card heel, and it looks like we are headed that way soon.
Where’s Kofi Kingston? He was seen last week with Woods, but he wasn’t at SummerSlam or RAW. I hope he isn’t quarantined.

Lily Wants to Play With the Queen

The new RAW Women’s Champion kicked off the third hour with a heel promo on how the “Queen” is back on her throne, and how Nikki’s stupid superhero outfit no longer has control of the RAW women’s division. Then, Alexa Bliss came out — alongside Lily — and they challenged Flair. That was the end of that.

Hey, it was unexpected, and at least it was something new! Flair and Bliss haven’t tangled since Survivor Series 2017 when Flair was on top of SmackDown, and the “Goddess” ruled Monday nights. Flair came out on top then, and I don’t have a doubt she will again, presumably at Extreme Rules. The “Opportunity” is not going to fall for a doll like Eva Marie did.

Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley Defeat Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax

So, I thought Jax and Baszler broke up after Money in the Bank when Jax dumped Reginald, and it looked like Baszler had enough with the “Irresistible Force”. I was wrong because they teamed up against the other two women involved in the RAW Women’s Championship match at the “Biggest Party of the Summer”. Also to my surprise, Ripley and Nikki are now… friends?! And, they worked well together?!

Wait. A. Minute. Huh?!

Nikki and Ripley were just destroying one another 48 hours prior, and now, Ripley has respect for Nikki’s character, and they systematically took out Jax and Baszler?! I just don’t get it!

Ripley should be PISSED at Nikki for stealing her spotlight. It should have been another one-on-one bout between Ripley and Flair at SummerSlam, not a triple threat with a person who thinks she’s ALMOST a superhero as the champion. If I was Ripley, I would beat the hell out of Nikki!

And how is it that Ripley goes from playing the tweener role in Vegas to being a full on face in San Diego 48 hours later?! Ripley should even be MORE mad at Nikki that she tapped out to Flair, and Ripley was never involved in the decision! RAW at its finest, folks! Questionable booking!

Karion Kross Defeats Ricochet

Kross got new ring gear now that his stint in NXT is officially over after losing the strap to Samoa Joe at Takeover 36 Sunday night. Ricochet played the role of jobber here as Kross locked in the Kross Jacket submission quickly. It’ll be interesting to see who Kross’ first real rivalry on the main roster is with.

Mansoor Defeats Jinder Mahal

I guess McIntyre didn’t Claymore Mahal, Shanky and Veer back into catering following SummerSlam. Mahal lost to Mansoor, who at least fought somebody other than MACE and T BAR this week. I really don’t see this story with Mansoor and Mustafa Ali going anywhere though.

Reggie Jumps Over an Ice Cream Truck

It’s hot in San Diego, so naturally, the 24/7 championship had to be defended in between an ice cream truck! Reggie escaped over R Truth and Akira Tozawa with his acrobatic moves. I may be one of one, but I still love the 24/7 Title skits. They were missed during the Thunderdome days, and I’m glad WWE is able to start filming then again. It means the world is finally getting back to a sense of normalcy.

Elias is Dead (Still)

Elias is still dead. This week, he said music was successful for him in WWE, but it didn’t win him championships (He’s right). Now, he has to focus on wrestling.

It’s a shame Elias never got a bigger heel push in 2018 and 2019. He was one of the most over superstars on RAW, and his interactions with John Cena at Wrestlemania 34 and Wrestlemania 35 were spectacular. WWE even did a documentary on how Elias was actually selling out in the streets of New Orleans for real prior to Wrestlemania 34.

The “Deadman” basically killed the character when he Chokeslammed the singer the night after Wrestlemania 35 in New Jersey. His character never recovered. He turned into Shane McMahon’s lackey during McMahon’s “Best in the World” run in 2019, and he was never the same guy. The pandemic really killed Elias’ whole gimmick with no fans, and he just never got back over when the crowd returned. Him returning as a heel in the RAW mid-card would boost the roster.

Eva Marie turns on Doudrop

Doudrop said she likes her name. Marie attacked her. They’re having a match next week.

WWE really fumbled Eva’s return. I thought she was going to come in as a monster heel like she did in 2016 and immediately challenge someone like Charlotte Flair and win the RAW Women’s Championship. I was wrong. She’s done nothing up until now, and hopefully her WWE return turns around when she breaks away from Doudrop.

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Next Week:

RAW actually booked three matches for next Monday night from the Paycom Center, fka the Chesapeake Arena, in Oklahoma City.

Bobby Lashley vs Sheamus
John Morrison vs The Miz
Doudrop vs Eva Marie

Two of these three matches I care about. I think you can figure out which one is the odd one out (hint, it’s match №3!)