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‘WWE Monday Night Raw’ Results: Lesnar Receives ‘RKO Outta Nowhere’—Roman Reigns Vs. Rusev At ‘SummerSlam’?

By Dustin Murrell
Published on: 12:02 PST, Aug 1, 2016

Brock Lesnar hadn’t been on WWE programming since he defeated current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose at WrestleMania 32 in a Street Fight. Since then, Lesnar has focused his energies on his return to the MMA world, as he defeated Mark Hunt at UFC 200, albeit amidst some controversy.

Meanwhile, Stephanie and Mick selected The Beast Incarnate for the Monday Night Raw brand in the WWE Draft. Upon his return to Raw tonight, he received an unexpected visit from his SummerSlam opponent, SmackDown Live‘s Randy Orton.

After doing the clean job at Battleground and another clean job on Raw, it appears that Roman Reigns will now focus his attention on Rusev and the WWE United States Championship. With WWE seemingly reluctant to pull the trigger on a Roman Reigns heel turn, will the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion be used to put Rusev over? Or will he instead be used in an attempt to build the prestige of the U.S. title like John Cena once did? After their interaction on Raw, one would assume they will have a match at SummerSlam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VravaPlzWTg

Aside from the cross-branded match between Lesnar and Orton, Raw already has two title matches confirmed for SummerSlam. Seth Rollins was the first-ever NXT Champion. Now, if he can defeat Finn Bálor on August 21, he will be the first-ever WWE Universal Champion. In addition to that highly-anticipated match-up, Sasha Banks will defend her newly won WWE Women’s Championship against former champion Charlotte. All four of them show up in a big way on this week’s Monday Night Raw.

WWE Monday Night Raw Results

The following includes the results of all the matches and segments from the episode of WWE Raw that first aired on August 1 on the USA Network. Raw won in the ratings last week against SmackDown Live, but neither Commissioner Stephanie McMahon nor General Manager Mick Foley mentioned that tonight. This episode of WWE Raw was taped live at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Raw Pre-Show On The WWE Network

Scott Stanford, Lita and Jerry Lawler co-hosted the Raw Pre-Show once again. Before they welcomed the WWE Universe to the Pre-Show, a replay of an interview between Tom Phillips and The New Day aired, in which it was announced that the current WWE Tag Team Champions would face Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows on Raw tonight, with the stipulation that only two of them can come to the ring during the match. Corey Graves also interviewed Sasha Banks about her recent title win and calling up her NXT friend Bayley as a tag team partner at Battleground. They also showed a promo between Darren Young and Titus O’Neil taped in the locker room to promote their singles match for tonight’s WWE Raw.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIkrsYojSJ7/

Although it’s unclear whether or not he was ever supposed to be a part of the Raw Pre-Show or anything else on Monday night, Booker T was unavailable today after being hospitalized (for yet-undisclosed reasons) over the weekend.

Charlotte And Chris Jericho Defeated Sasha Banks And Enzo Amore

Michael Cole, Byron Scott and Corey Graves were on commentary as The Boss made her way to the ring to open this week’s WWE Monday Night Raw. Shortly after she began her in-ring promo, she was predictably interrupted by Charlotte. Moments later, the women were unpredictably interrupted by Chris Jericho, who came out to talk trash with the WWE Women’s Champion. Just as Y2J was calling Sasha a “brat,” Enzo Amore came to the ring, sans Big Cass. Nearly twenty minutes into the show, GM Mick Foley ended the in-ring promo by setting up a mixed tag team match to kick off Raw. As the match began, Kevin Owens joined Cole and company on guest commentary. Apparently, he has some beef with Enzo because Amore interrupted Owens during an interview after the WWE Draft. A distraction by Dana Brooke helped Charlotte and Jericho get the win, which culminated in Banks getting pinned after being the victim of Natural Selection. Big Cass finally made an appearance after the match was over to prevent Jericho from beating on Enzo.

Braun Strowman Defeated Evan Anderholm

Just like last week, the local enhancement talent was interviewed by Byron Scott before the squash match. Strowman once again used the reverse chokeslam as his finisher. No indication was given as to who Braun will eventually work a program with.

Mark Henry Wants A Comeback — Foley Gives Him A Title Match

After approaching Stephanie and Mick backstage to let them know he wanted to reopen the “Hall of Pain,” Foley granted Henry a match for tonight’s Raw against Rusev for the WWE United States Championship. Henry felt disrespected after Foley and McMahon implied that he would best be used in a mentor’s role in the New Era of WWE. It was also noted that he is the WWE’s ambassador for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The Shining Stars Defeated The Golden Truth

Still obsessed with Pokémon GO, R-Truth was unable to focus on the action and cost his team the match. It looks like Goldust and R-Truth’s tag team may break up due to Pokémon GO drama.

Seth Rollins Interviews Finn Bálor

While Michael Cole was in the ring to begin the interview with Finn Bálor, he was almost instantly interrupted by Seth Rollins, who kicked Cole out of the ring and continued the interview on his own. The two jawed back and forth until Bálor finally kicked Rollins in the head and out of the ring. After the segment ended, it was noted that Rollins would be in singles competition against Sami Zayn later in the evening.

Rusev Defeated Mark Henry, Confronted By Roman Reigns

Lana and Rusev got married (in real life) over the weekend, and the Ravishing Russian made sure that every member of the WWE Universe was well aware of it before her new husband’s match. As Mark Henry tried to prove his relevance in the New Era, he came up short, tapping out to Rusev’s Accolade. As the Bulgarian Brute was on a post-match tirade, he was interrupted by Roman Reigns. It appears that Roman Reigns will begin a program with Rusev, challenging for the U.S. title at SummerSlam.

Titus O’Neil Defeated Darren Young

The former Prime Time Players went head-to-head, and O’Neil picked up the win after using a handful of tights. Despite having Bob Backlund at ringside, Young was unable to build any momentum after suffering a loss to The Miz at WWE Battleground. Later, when Titus was getting in Backlund’s face backstage, Darren Young laid out his former tag team partner before his life coach pulled him off.

Cesaro And Sheamus Are Unhappy

Sheamus confronted Stephanie and Mick backstage, complaining that Mark Henry was granted a US title match instead of the Celtic Warrior. Cesaro was on his heels, making the same complaint to the Raw leadership. Foley told them they would have a match against each other later in the show. The winner would be granted a future championship match on the Monday Night Raw.

Nia Jax Defeated Ariel Monroe

As if she were simply the female version of Braun Strowman, Nia Jax is being put in the ring with undersized jobbers every week. Her complete dominance in the ring is a sure sign that she’s a future contender for the WWE Women’s Championship.

Luke Gallows And Karl Anderson Defeated Big E And Kofi Kingston

With The New Day required to leave one member backstage during this match, the chemistry of the longest-reigning WWE Tag Team Champions could have been thrown off. But when Big E managed to get the pin on Anderson with a surprise roll-up, The Club laid out all three members of The New Day before leaving the ring.

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Cesaro Defeated Sheamus

In a match that gave him a few opportunities to show off his ridiculous strength, Cesaro put Sheamus away with the Gotch Neutralizer. At some point in the future, Cesaro will be granted a title match on Monday Night Raw.

Jinder Mahal Earns A Monday Night Raw Contract

While Heath Slater wanted the surprise return of Mahal to be the formation of “2MB,” GM Foley came out and told the men that they could compete in a singles match with a Raw contract on the line. While Slater tried to argue against the match starting, Mahal was ready to go when the bell rang and got the quick win after laying out Heath with a superkick.

A New Canadian Connection Is Born

In a backstage interview with Tom Phillips, Chris Jericho claimed he had his own back-up, the way Enzo had Big Cass. When Phillips asked who it was, Kevin Owens showed up. The WWE Universe can expect Enzo and Big Cass vs. Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens at SummerSlam.

Seth Rollins Defeated Sami Zayn

Assuming they can both stay healthy, the WWE Universe can expect to be treated to plenty of Seth Rollins vs. Sami Zayn matches over the next few years. On this night, Zayn missed with a Helluva Kick and then fell victim to a Pedigree.

Randy Orton Delivers Epic RKO Outta Nowhere To Brock Lesnar

Having just resigned with WWE hours before tonight’s Monday Night Raw, Paul Heyman was on-point as the Advocate of Brock Lesnar, even if the live audience in Atlanta wasn’t as electric for the creator of ECW as a Philly crowd likely would have been. But just as he was explaining that Orton would never be able to get Lesnar in a position to hit the RKO, the Viper appeared in the ring and planted The Beast Incarnate with his patented RKO Outta Nowhere. When the Raw locker room emptied to chase the SmackDown Live star away, he ripped off his shirt and ran up the stairs, posing with the WWE Universe along the way.

Additional Notes:

  • A quick segment aired to show that The Bella Twins had won “Choice Female Athlete” at the Teen Choice Awards.
  • The NBA’s Dwight Howard and Tim Hardaway, Jr. were spotted in the audience with their kids.
  • Sean “Puffy” Combs will be a guest on WWE Raw next week. No further information was revealed.
  • Promotions aired for the eventual inclusion of the WWE Cruiserweight Division on the Raw brand.

These WWE Raw results will be corroborated by WWE’s official Monday Night Raw page.

Updated WWE SummerSlam Card

  • Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton
  • Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler — WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
  • Seth Rollins vs. Finn Bálor — WWE Universal Championship Match
  • Sasha Banks (c) vs. Charlotte — WWE Women’s Championship Match
  • The New Day (c) vs. The Club — WWE Tag Team Championship Match (unconfirmed)
  • Rusev (c) vs. Roman Reigns — WWE United States Championship Match (unconfirmed)
  • Enzo and Big Cass vs. Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho (unconfirmed)
  • Darren Young vs. Titus O’Neil (unconfirmed)

Unless otherwise noted, the matches above were confirmed on WWE’s official SummerSlam preview page.

Where To Watch

WWE SummerSlam 2016 is set for Sunday, August 21. It will air exclusively on the WWE Network at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. The SummerSlam Kick-Off Show will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern/6 p.m. Central.

https://twitter.com/LesnarSupport/status/758432647991455744

WWE Monday Night RAW airs live on the USA Network at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central, with the Raw Pre-Show airing on the WWE Network at 7:30 p.m. Eastern/6:30 p.m. Central. Replays of WWE RAW aren’t made available on the WWE Network until several weeks after the original air date. However, a 90-minute version of Monday Night Raw is available to stream on-demand the following day with a Hulu Plus subscription.

[Image via WWE]

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