WWE Monday Night Raw: Braun Strowman pins Keith Lee

The WWE Hell in a Call go home show featured some of the new names brought to Monday Night Raw, but many of the old names that left as well.

The season premiere of Monday Night Raw was front and center for this week’s edition of WWE Monday Night Raw. Many of the talent brought over during the WWE Draft were featured throughout the night’s matches and segments.

The night started with an eight-man tag match. RETRIBUTION and the Hurt Business have battled each other for the past few weeks. This came to a head with the first match on Raw. Lashley and T-Bar were the first two to face off in the match. Lashley looked like he was going to run through the team by himself.

The action picked up when Mustafa Ali entered the match. He and Cedric Alexander have an extensive history together and Ali played off that, grounding and assaulting Alexander. The Hurt Business continued to control much of this match, with frequent tags and keeping their opponents in their corner. It remained that way through the end of the match when Lashley locked in the Full Nelson submission to get the victory.

AJ Styles came out to the ring next, but he was not alone, accompanied by a new bodyguard. Styles was scheduled to face Matt Riddle in one-on-one action. It took a moment to convince Styles’s bodyguard to leave the ring, but once they did, he and Riddle got down to action. Riddle took control of the action early, but when Styles rolled outside of the ring his bodyguard’s presence stopped all his momentum.

Back in the ring Styles and Riddle exchanged offense, with Riddle getting the advantage once again. He would not stay on top as he and Styles went into a sequence of striking combinations that left both men on the mat. A top rope battle sent Riddle crashing to the ground where he was approached by Jordan once again. Riddle ran back into the ring and was caught by Styles, leading to the Styles Clash and a victory by the former champion.

Asuka toyed with Lana for much of the Raw Women’s title match. She was the clear favorite heading into this match, and it played out early. Lana was not going away without a fight, nearly pinning Asuka a few times off counters. Nothing would stop Lana from being able to defend herself after a pin counter led to Asuka locking in the Asuka Lock, forcing her opponent to submit.

The women’s tag team division was up next. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler were in an impromptu non-title match against the Riott Squad, Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke, and the team of Lacey Evans and Peyton Royce. The action was really fast-paced for this match, with every member getting their spots in. The end would come with Jax tagged back into the match, flattening Evans with a Samoan Drop for the victory.

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are the Raw tag team champions, but Sheamus was not very appreciative of their presence. These two men competed against each other very often for years in the tag team division and this singles match featured much of the same action. Kingston got off to the early advantage, but he was laid out when the match ended up outside the ring. Sheamus used his power to control much of the match, but he could not keep Kingston down.

They continued to trade move after moving, with Kingston landing everything from a Russian Leg Sweep off the top, to countering the Irish Curse Backbreaker. The end would come when Kingston landed the Trouble in Paradise after a pin fall attempt to get the victory.

The Miz and Morrison were set to face off against Tucker and a mystery partner, El Gran Gordo – who looked a lot like Otis in a mask. Tucker started off the match and he did well against the Miz initially, he soon found himself on the wrong end of the offense supplied by the former tag team champions. El Gran Gordo would get into the ring and use his power to clear house on both opponents. A train of wrestlers would run through chasing R-Truth and distracting the Miz. That would lead to El Gran Gordo landing some offense and hitting the Vader Bomb to finish the match.

The main event of the evening was a hoss battle between Keith Lee and Braun Strowman. Strowman came out of the gates quickly, pushing Lee around and forcing him out of the ring. Strowman attempted to lift Lee up but his injured ribs made it impossible to pick up the big man. It looked like Lee was rolling to a victory but Strowman would land a low blow, followed with a big boot to get the pin fall win.

October 19 Monday Night Raw results

• The Hurt Business defeated RETRIBUTION via submission
• AJ Styles defeated Matt Riddle via pin fall
• Asuka defeated Lana via submission
• Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler win a women’s tag team, non-title Four-Way match via pin fall
• Kofi Kingston defeated Sheamus via pin fall
• Tucker and El Gran Gordo defeated the Miz and John Morrison
• Braun Strowman defeated Keith Lee via pin fall