WWE Monday Night Raw: Randy Orton wins number one contender status

Randy Orton won a triple threat main event to earn another shot at Drew McIntyre’s WWE championship.

One night removed from WWE Payback, Monday Night Raw continued a multitude of storylines for the promotion. At the end of the night, Randy Orton emerged as the number one contender to Drew McIntyre’s title and much more occurred in three hours of action.

A series of matches were put into place to determine the next challenger for McIntyre at WWE Clash of Champions. Lee had to advance to the triple-threat main event by defeating Dolph Ziggler in the opening match of the evening.

Ziggler attempted to get an upper hand in the contest, jumping Lee from behind while he talked with Randy Orton. That started the match off in his favor, but it did not remain that way for long. Ziggler was doing a good job keeping Lee off his feet, negating his strength. Ziggler could not keep it up however as he ended up eating all the power that Lee had to offer. Ziggler even tried multiple cheating tactics to win, but he made the mistake of leaving his feet, allowing for Lee to catch him, hit the Spirit Bomb and get the win.

Asuka is also in need of a challenger. That need came to a head when Mickie James confronted her in the middle of the ring. Lana and Natalya took offense to the idea of James being a challenger for the title, which resulted in a one-on-one match between James and Lana. James was up to her usual tactics, but took a Chick Kick to the face, allowing James to get the pin fall.

Kevin Owens was supposed to face Orton in another qualifying match for the WWE contendership, but Aleister Black made certain he was not a 100 percent. Before Owens hit the ring, Black attacked him, laying him out with the Black Mask. Owens tried to still fight Orton, but it was mere seconds before he would eat an RKO, allowing Orton to get the win and move on.

Six-man tag team action also occurred on Raw. The Hurt Business once again battled against Cedric Alexander, this time teaming with the Viking Raiders. The Viking Raiders got their team off to an early start but once Alexander got into the ring the Hurt Business started to have their way with him. It looked like Alexander was unable to get away from his opponents but that did not stop him from getting the victory. He dodged a big boot in the corner from MVP and rolled up the former United States champion to give his team the victory.

The IIconics break up

The Riott Squad and IIconics had an interesting stipulation around their tag team match. Not only would the winners receive a shot at new tag team champions, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler, but the losing team would be forced to separate. Both teams operated as functioning units in this match. Multiple times it looked like the IIconics would be able to pick up the victory, but after a series of rollups between Riott and Billie Kay, it would be Riot that remained on top and secured the victory for their team.

Seth Rollins was looking to get back into the title picture. To do so, he would have to defeat Dominick Mysterio. Mysterio used the growing turmoil between Rollins and Buddy Murphy to get the drop on Rollins, kicking off this match at an advantage. Mysterio could not keep the momentum rolling. Rollins found a way to slow him down, while punishing the younger competitor.

Mysterio would hit the 619 and went for the Frog Splash for the win. But he missed, Rollins rebounded, hit the Curb Stomp, and pinned Mysterio to get the win and the final slot in the main event of the evening.

The Street Profits’ feud with Angel Garza and Andrade continued for another week. This time the teams faced off in a tag team tornado match. Dawkins was quickly isolated in the ring and found himself on the end of a series of double-team maneuvers. He would fight back, and Montez Ford fought his way back into the match as well. Before the match could end Retribution stormed the ring once again, beating everyone up and running away before anyone could stop them.

Seth Rollins and Randy Orton tried to form a bond when facing Keith Lee in the triple threat main event. They would need to work together to take on the surging Lee, who is riding a wave of momentum since joining the Monday Night Raw roster. The alliance would fall apart when Orton hit a nasty draping DDT on Rollins as he tried to get back into the ring. When Lee would return to the ring, he would start to crush both men, bouncing them off each other and around the outside of the ring. Lee hit a massive Spirit Bomb on Rollins but before he could make the pin, Orton hit Lee with the RKO and pinned Rollins to take the victory.

August 31 Monday Night Raw results

• Keith Lee defeated Dolph Ziggler via pin fall
• Mickie James defeated Lana via pin fall
• Randy Orton defeated Kevin Owens via pin fall
• Cedric Alexander and the Viking Raiders defeated the Hurt Business via pin fall
• The Riott Squad defeated the IIconics via pin fall
• Seth Rollins defeated Dominick Mysterio via pin fall
• Randy Orton defeated Seth Rollins and Keith Lee via pin fall