Randy Orton has run roughshod in 2020, brutally attacking anyone and everyone that falls on his bad side. On Monday’s edition of WWE Raw, the tables were turned, however, with WWE champion Drew McIntyre putting Orton on the defensive through a series of attacks that lasted through nearly the entire show.
After a series of Orton attacks left McIntyre with a broken jaw and forced to be taken out of the area via ambulance just a few weeks back, McIntyre followed the Orton script on Monday. McIntyre attacked Orton three times over the course of the show, landing three Claymores and apparently injuring Orton’s jaw while leaving “The Viper” to be taken from the arena in an ambulance.
CBS Sports was with you the entire night, bringing highlights, recaps and grades from Raw. Read on for all the details from WWE’s flagship television program.
Drew McIntyre finds his payback
Orton opened the show to discuss being forced to face Keith Lee yet again, pointing out the more the two crossed paths, the more likely Lee is to get kicked in the head. Orton’s focus shifted to McIntyre, pointing out their match at Clash of Champions would only happen if McIntyre is able to get medically cleared. That means, Orton said, if McIntyre can’t defend the title, he should be handed the championship at the pay-per-view. McIntyre then showed up driving an ambulance and quickly put a beating on Orton to leave him lying in the ring. McIntyre was confronted by WWE officials backstage after the attack, agreeing to leave since he already did what he came there to accomplish. McIntyre continued to find reasons he had not left throughout the rest of the show as Adam Pearce repeatedly tried to get him out of the building.
Randy Orton def. Keith Lee via disqualification after a run-in by McIntyre. Lee looked strong again for much of the match, but eventually fell victim to an RKO by Orton. As Orton was about to go for the pin, McIntyre ran in and hit a Claymore to lay out Orton and draw the disqualification. Pearce lectured McIntyre on his way up the entrance ramp about putting himself at risk since he’s not medically-cleared. Orton continued to sell an injured jaw as McIntyre got revenge for his own fractured jaw. Later in the show, McIntyre attacked Orton backstage before delivering his third Claymore of the show, leading Orton to be taken out of the building in an ambulance.
There was no reason to book Orton vs. Lee again. The match has already happened twice in the past two weeks and Lee being relegated to the status of “the other guy” does him few favors. Two of those three meetings ended in similar ways, though tonight’s match was left with the feeling that Lee was about to lose clean after taking an RKO, one of WWE’s most protected finishers. There’s some logic in McIntyre effectively repeating Orton’s attack on him, but it wasn’t a great journey through the show and largely falls on the logic of “WWE security just can’t get anything right.” Completely average stuff that doesn’t do Orton’s tremendous 2020 or Lee’s status as a new force justice. Grade: C+
The Mysterios get vengeance on Murphy
The Mysterio family was interviewed in the ring, with Rey saying he has no timetable to recover from his triceps injury. As Dominik tried to speak about it felt like to represent his family in WWE, Murphy interrupted on the Tron. Murphy blamed the Mysterios for causing Seth Rollins — the one man who picked him up when he was down — to turn his back. Murphy then issued a challenge to Dominik to upgrade their match to a street fight, which Dominik accepted.
Dominik Mysterio def. Murphy via verbal submission after a series of kendo stick shots. The Mysterio family was at ringside holding kendo sticks during the match. Murphy dominated the majority of the match, brutalizing Dominik with a variety of weapons including some brutal chair shots. Murphy cut off Dominik’s comeback attempt and tied him up in the ropes before grabbing a kendo stick, but Rey stole the stick. Murphy instead opted to go outside and grab a table, but the Mysterio women released Dominik from the ropes, allowing Dominik to hit a sunset flip bomb from the ring to the outside and through a table. Dominik, Rey and the Mysterio women then hit Murphy with an extended series of kendo stick shots as he was tied in the ropes until Murpny quit. The show ended as the Mysterio family continued to pelt Murphy with kendo stick shots.
In a weak show, the ending was solid, with a cathartic moment for the Mysterio family. The lack of Rollins left Murphy on an island and outnumbered, something that had been a benefit to Rollins and Murphy for months on end. The show-ending visual of Murphy being brutalized by the Mysterios was a wonderful moment, even if this fell firmly in the long line of matches we’ve seen in one form or another several times in recent weeks and months. Grade: B
What else happened on WWE Raw?
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The Hurt Business def. Ricochet, Cedric Alexander & Apollo Crews via pinfall after Shelton Benjamin hit Paydirt on Crews. The Hurt Business beat up a custodian for saying hello as they entered the arena and then attacked Alexander during his entrance. Alexander then turned during the match, attacking Ricochet and laying out Crews with a Lumbar Check. Alexander’s turn was a long time coming and needed to freshen up this whole angle.
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The Street Profits def. Andrade & Angel Garza via pinfall after Montez Ford hit Cash Out on Andrade. Andrade and Zelina Vega walked past Garza during his entrance, leading to Garza bailing on his team moments after the match began and the Profits to score a win in less than two minutes. Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura then showed up, the SmackDown tag champs “invading.” Cesaro and Nakamura issued a champion vs. champion challenge for next week’s Raw.
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Peyton Royce def. Billie Kay via pinfall after a corkscrew neckbreaker. Royce hugged her former IIconics partner after scoring the win. If there was any doubt the point of breaking up the team was to give Royce a run, it ended here. Not a strong match.
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Asuka & Mickie James def. Natalya & Lana via submission after Asuka locked Lana in the Asuka Lock. James and Asuka butted heads a bit through the match, stealing tags from one another, but cruised to a fairly easy win.
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The Hurt Business def. Ricochet, Apollo Crews & The Viking Raiders. After Alexander appeared on the VIP lounge to explain his turn, the Viking Raiders, Ricochet and Crews ran in and attacked, leading to the match. Alexander should have erased Shelton Benjamin’s doubts about his turn after dropping Ricochet on his head. Ricochet appeared to kick out at two on the finish to set up a wholly unnecessary rematch. Ivar may have also injured his arm on a suicide dive, signaling as such during the match and being attended to after its conclusion.
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Kevin Owens and Aleister Black fought on Raw Underground, and it was spread out across multiple segments rather than showing it as a whole. Dabba-Kato took out both men after being bumped into on the outside in a really miserable set of segments that failed to accomplish anything.
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The Riott Squad def. Shayna Baszler via pinfall after a roll-up. This was the first of two 2-on-1 handicap matches. Baszler dominated until the surprising roll-up win by Liv Morgan.
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Retribution interrupted The Riott Squad vs. Nia Jax. In the middle of the match, the lights flickered before Retribution graphics showed up on the ThunderDome screens. The group then cut a brief promo, lightly touching on their motivations, saying they were out to punish WWE for leaving them to a cold, cruel world and would seek to punish any superstars and fans who bought into what WWE was selling.