WWE Monday Night Raw: Randy Orton punts Ric Flair

Randy Orton defeats Kevin Owens then dispatches Ric Flair with the punt after the match

There are two weeks left before the 2020 edition of SummerSlam is presented on the WWE Network. Every show up until then is meant to drive home the angles that fans should want to see. The latest edition of Monday Night Raw kept that tradition going with a big return, important matches and much more.

The first match of the night featured the Monday Night Messiah, Seth Rollins in yet another match with Humberto Carrillo. This time, his SummerSlam opponent, Dominik Mysterio was on the outside watching.

Carrillo and Rollins wasted no time going after one another. They brawled both inside and outside the ring, setting an opening for Buddy Murphy and Mysterio to get involved. Carrillo used the opening to get the advantage on Rollins, but the momentum would not stay in his favor. Carrillo attempted to go for a moonsault, but Murphy distracted, allowing Rollins to counter and finish Carrillo off with the Curb Stomp to pick up the victory.

Angelo Dawkins battled Andrade in the second match of the evening. Dawkins was out to get “revenge” for the apparent poisoning of Montez Ford last week. Dawkins came out hot out of the gate, but Andrade was in control for much of the match. Vega attempted to distract the referee in this match, but Bianca Belair put a stop to that. This created an opening for Dawkins to hit the Cash Out and pin Andrade in the center of the ring.

Bianca Belair terrorizes Zelina Vega

Belair and Vega remained in battle as their match was immediately up next. When the match returned from commercial Vega was hanging off Belair’s back, attempting to strangle the bigger woman. Belair was throwing Vega around for much of the match until Vega used some underhanded tactics to poke Belair in the eye. Vega held onto control of this match for as long as she could until Belair hit here with a massive powerbomb, leading into the KOD to finish off Vega.

Apollo Crews and Shelton Benjamin got into an impromptu match after Crews cleared out the Hurt Business while they were cutting a promo. Crews and Benjamin were evenly matched for much of the contest, but Crews had to deal with the numbers game with Bobby Lashley and MVP on the outside. That led to Crews downfall, after a distraction from Lashley, Benjamin ran in and rolled Crews up for the victory.

A group battle was up next as Ricochet and Cedric Alexander teamed with the Viking Raiders to face Akira Tozawa and his group of ninjas. Only a few seconds were needed before the ninjas were squashed, sending Tozawa and the remaining ninja, away from the ring. What happened was R-Truth tricking Tozawa into another pinfall to give him his 38th reign as the 24/7 champion.

Raw’s reunited duo of Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan was out next as their rivalry with the IIconics continued. Liv Morgan and Peyton Royce went after each other in a one-on-one match. Royce controlled much of this match, especially after the ladies re-entered the ring and she landed a big spinning kick on Morgan, laying her out. Riott tried to assist Morgan in the match, but that led to Royce landing her corkscrew brainbuster for the win.

Asuka needed to pick up a victory over Bayley to get a shot at Sasha Banks at SummerSlam. She went right after Bayley from the start, attacking her relentlessly. Bayley would get control of the match and slow things down to attempt to pick apart the former champion. Asuka picked up the pace, bouncing Bayley around the ring with German suplexes, hip attacks and much more. Asuka kept the pressure going through the commercial break and continued to chase the pinfall when the action returned.

Things got out of hand when Bayley put together a big series of moves but made the mistake of mocking Kairi Sane. Before she could land her next move, Asuka hit a flying armbar and transitioned into the Asuka lock to for Bayley to submit. Now she has her title rematch at SummerSlam.

Raw Underground was center stage for the second week in a row. The first segment saw Riddick Moss picking up a victory, followed by Arturo Ruas knocking out an opponent. Dabba-Kato was also back for a second week as he squashed another victim. Shayna Baszler also showed up and showed out as she beat up three women at the same time, with very little trouble.

The main event of the evening was Randy Orton vs Kevin Owens. Even if Orton had his eyes set on his title match against Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam, he still was able to focus enough on Owens to decimate the former champion for much of this match. Multiple times throughout this match it looked like Orton had done enough damage to put Owens away, but he continued to fight back each time. Owens fought back and nearly landed the Stunner, but Orton countered into the RKO to pin Owens for the victory.

Aug. 10 Monday Night Raw results

• Seth Rollins defeated Humberto Carrillo via pinfall
• Angelo Dawkins defeated Andrade via pinfall
• Bianca Belair defeated Zelina Vega via pinfall
• Shelton Benjamin defeated Apollo Crews via pinfall
• Ricochet, Cedric Alexander, and the Viking Raiders defeated Akira Tozawa and his ninjas via pinfall
• Peyton Royce defeated Liv Morgan via pinfall
• Asuka defeated Bayley via submission
• Randy Orton defeated Kevin Owens via pinfall