On Raw, Becky Lynch confirmed she suffered a separated shoulder at SummerSlam, and she’s expected to miss ‘several months’ of action.
The former Raw Women’s Champion – whoover the weekend – finally embraced The Man persona again, but exacerbated the nasty injury.
The show started with Lynch sporting a sling as she came out and addressed the fans, before bringing Belair to the ring so she could show her respect for the EST of WWE.
Big Time Becks left the champ in the ring, and she explained the respect is mutual before we saw footage of the trio attacking Lynch backstage.
The three stars made an impression a number of times during the evening, including interrupting a fun match between Alexa Bliss and Asuka which left both women laid out before Belair charged down to send the villains running.
Later in the night, Belair looked for some revenge as she faced Sky in a fantastic match between two supremely talented stars.
The no contest ending came when Bayley and Dakota went to get involved, only for Asuka and Alexa Bliss to come down to even the odds, with everything eventually breaking down into a wild brawl.
The drama, excitement and unpredictability on display will serve the Raw women’s division well, with Bayley’s crew ready to play a major role when WWE rolls into Cardiff, Wales for Clash At The Castle.
Ciampa earns United States Championship match, Edge accidentally attacks Dominik Mysterio
In the first match of the night, AJ Styles won a phenomenal – pun intended – Triple Threat against Mustafa Ali and The Miz as part of a mini tournament of sorts to find for the US Title.
AJ won with a Styles Clash on Ali on top of the A-Lister, setting up a bout with the winner of a second Triple Threat later in the night.
That one was won by Ciampa, who shone in an exciting bout against Dolph Ziggler and Chad Gable, eventually hitting the Fairytale Ending for the win.
He went onto face and beat AJ Styles in a match that was every bit as incredible as you’d expect given the amount of talent involved, with Ciampa’s victory coming after Miz saved him from a loss.
Elsewhere, the Street Profits interrupted Seth Freakin’ Rollins as he came out to address the fans, leading to Montez Ford facing him in singles competition.
The Visionary picked up the win – which was the right call – buthere, holding his own with a genuine main eventer.
After the match, Rollins went for a second Stomp, but Dawkins saved his partner despite him cheating to earn the chance to face Seth.
In the main event, Rey and Dominik Mysterio fell short in their bid for the Unified Tag Team Titles with The Usos able to pick up the win with a 1-D after a lengthy and fun clash.
After the bell, Judgment Day – Finn Balor, Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest – went on the attack, beating down the father/son duo until Edge ran down to make the save, but he accidentally hit a Spear on Dominik before chasing Priest through the crowd.
Earlier in the night, he had threatened to end Judgment Day, and this was a fine way to continue the rivalry.
The first Raw of the Triple H era was a resounding success, with some fantastic in-ring action and plenty of strong storyline development.
WWE Raw airs Monday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1.
WWE Raw results and grades - August 1, 2022
- AJ Styles beat The Miz and Mustafa Ali (A-)
- Seth Freakin’ Rollins pinned Montez Ford (A-)
- Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka ended in a no contest (B+ for whole segment)
- Ciampa defeated Dolph Ziggler and Chad Gable (A-)
- Bianca Belair vs. Iyo Sky ended in a no contest (B+)
- United States Title Match on the line: Ciampa pinned AJ Styles (A)
- Unified Tag Team Titles: The Usos (c) beat Los Mysterios (B+)
