WWE Raw results, live blog (Aug. 28, 2023): Payback go home

Jul 04, 2023

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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Aug. 28, 2023) from FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring the brand’s final push to the Payback Premium Live Event happening this Saturday in Pittsburgh.

Advertised for tonight: Before facing Trish Stratus in a Steel Cage this weekend, Becky Lynch looks to take out Stratus’ protege Zoey Stark in a Last Woman Standing match. Elsewhere, Chad Gable works his way toward another shot at Intercontinental champion Gunther when he faces Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser, The New Day battles Viking Raiders, Tommaso Ciampa goes one-on-one with Bronson Reed, and a whole lot more.

Come right back here at 8 pm ET when the Raw live blog will kick off once the show starts on USA Network. It will be below this line here. Reminder: GIFs and pics allowed, but no links to illegal streams, please.

You give an air of la Dolce Vita, society’s made a queen out of you. Casanova couldn’t take all your virtue, but me? I’m just here to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for you, folks.

The show opens with the dual memorial graphic for Terry Funk and Bray Wyatt.

Circling, collar and elbow, struggling into the ropes, Priest breaks dirty with a knee to the midsection, side headlock, shot off, but he clobbers Zayn with an elbow! Laying kicks in, Damian goes back to the side headlock, wrenching it in, shot off, big arm drag from Sami!

Priest back to his feet, into the corner, Zayn ducks a lariat and starts throwing chops! Damian turns him around and puts boots to him, Sami with an overhead elbow out of the corner, only a one count! Wrecking ball dropkick, Zayn on the apron, Arabian press Asai Moonsault!

Back inside, knucklelock, Sami steps up, Damian ducks under him and clobbers him with a right hand! Putting boots to Zayn, elbows in the corner crumple him, Broken Arrow connects but it’s only good for two! Kneeling surfboard follows, Sami flips out of it, upkicks, pass over the ropes and to the floor!

Zayn off the ropes, Priest meets him with a goozle but gets smashed into the turnbuckles! Sami with a plancha, caught into a reverse STO into the announce desk as we go to break!

Back from commercial, jockeying for position in the turnbuckles, Zayn hits an avalanche sunset flip powerbomb... NOT ENOUGH! Sami blocks a punch and throws a few of his own, whip reversed, leapfrog, lariat sends Priest to the floor! Zayn off the ropes... TOPE CON GIRO!

Back in, off the top, caught with the goozle, Sami slips out, puts him into the post, Blue Thunder Driver... STILL NO! Damian snaps his neck over the ropes, a boot staggers him, kick to the knee, looking for the Razor’s Edge, Sami zlips out! Exploder in the corner, Zayn lines him up but JD McDonagh trips him up!

Damian comes over on the distraction...

Damian Priest wins by pinfall with South of Heaven.

Post-match, McDonagh slides in the ring and raises Priest’s hand, but Damian’s not having it and he shoves him down and tells him to stay out of his business.

JD turns around to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, who beat him down and then hit him with a Stunner and a Helluva Kick!

Commentary hypes up the show and we see New Day and Viking Raiders getting ready for their match against each other in their own respective ways, and we go to break.

Back from commercial, Drew McIntyre is hanging out backstage with Akira Tozawa.

Tozawa tells him he looks great and leaves, and Matt Riddle rolls up. Drew turns the paper he’s holding around to reveal a picture of him photoshopped into green “Bro” trunks. Riddle babbles about the importance of matching gear and says he wants to scout New Day vs. Viking Raiders at ringside with hot dogs and haggis.

Drew says he’s onto something and he wants to see the Vikings get beaten.

We get a video package for Raquel Rodriguez vs. Rhea Ripley follows.

Becky Lynch is shown stretching backstage and we go to break.

Back from commercial, we get some hype for John Cena’s return this Friday.

“LA Knight” (actually the Miz in a thin disguise) makes his entrance and gets on the mic.

He says he’s got his tough guy voice on and he’s a dangerous man and gets caught in a catchphrase loop before bringing in a bag of free t-shirts and fakes out the crowd, instead throwing them into the aisle and taking his sunglasses off and stripping all the LA Knight gear off to his waist.

He calls the crowd pathetic and says they’ll cheer for anything and their support means nothing. Knight is generic, vanilla, pandering, and Miz doesn’t do catchphrases, he calls himself awesome because it’s the truth, and when he beats and exposes LA, the party will be over.

We get a recap of Shinsuke Nakamura revealing Seth Rollins’ back injury.

Seth is shown backstage in an emerald pantsuit with a very serious look on his face. Ricochet walks by and Rollins acknowledges him without losing his sour focus.

New Day make their entrance and we go to break.

Matt Riddle and Drew McIntyre are at ringside for this one.

Woods and Erik to start, collar and elbow, Viking backs him into the corner, Xavier with right hands. Duck a lariat, side headlock, block the shot, Woods throws a shoulder and chops, arm wringer, overhead elbows to the bicep but Erik clobbers him with a right!

Xavier with a right of his own, whipped into the corner, off the ropes, tilt-a-whirl side slam from the Viking! Clubbing blows, tag to Ivar, Valhalla’s fired up, Warbeard with right hands and a quick tag as the heat segment rolls on. Xavier with some elbows for separation, reaching for a tag but he gets cut off!

Float over a slam, roll through, tag to Kingston! Leaping lariat, clear the apron, chops, duck a lariat, superkick staggers Ivar! Warbeard sidesteps a charge, Kofi with a kick from the apron, diving crossbody... NOPE! Penalty Kick, Boom Drop, fired up but Ivar saves Erik from the ring!

Woods dropkicks him, Kofi with a trust fall dive to the floor and we go to break!

Back from commercial, Ivar stacking Kingston up with back elbows in the corner, Kofi gets a dropkick for separation, Erik tags in and keeps him from crawling under! Ivar tags in, clobbers Kingston, and the Vikings keep him isolated at length. Woods finally gets a tag, in hot, rolling elbow, kick combo, La Mistica into a side Russian legsweep on Erik!

Ivar whips him into the corner, boot up, Honor Roll... SO CLOSE! The match breaks down, New Day running double-teams, Shadows Over Hell from Kofi... ERIK BREAKS IT UP! Woods takes him out with a plancha, Ivar takes Kingston to the floor and passes him over the steps, Kofi charges back in, gets caught and dropped face-first into the steel!

Bowling McIntyre and Riddle over at ringside, Drew is pissed and throws chairs at the ring... ONE BLASTS WOODS IN THE FACE! Kofi stuck alone in the ring, fighting desperately...

Viking Raiders win by pinfall with Ragnarok on Kofi Kingston.

Post-match, Drew and Matt go after the Vikings but stop short of chasing them up the ramp. Mcintyre apologizes for hitting Xavier with the chair and gets so mad he throws the chair again.

Backstage, Finn Balor talks to Damian Priest about how they need to focus and get on the same page. Priest agrees and says he shouldn’t be worrying about people that don’t matter, like JD McDonagh. Finn points out he wouldn’t have beaten Sami without JD, and Damian says he doesn’t care, he only cares about the Judgment Day.

Rhea Ripley steps in and yells at them for not getting along and says she can’t keep running the ship all by herself and they’re gonna remind everyone that the Judgment Day is a force to be reckoned with at Payback, and if they don’t all have gold at the end of the night, there will have to be some changes.

And so we go to break.

Back from commercial we get a tribute video for Bray Wyatt.

Bray’s rocking chair is spotlit on the stage while his original Broken Out in Love theme plays among the sea of fireflies, and we go to break.

Back from commercial, we get a recap of Viking Raiders defeating New Day and Drew McIntyre’s anger issues.

Kofi Kingston leaves the trainer’s room and Riddle and McIntyre are there to check on Xavier. Kofi says he’s hurt but he’ll be fine and they don’t blame Drew for the collateral damage. McIntyre says he’s gonna go to Adam Pearce and get a match where he doesn’t have to tag in to beat some Viking ass.

Imperium make their entrance and GUNTHER climbs atop the announce desk to cut a promo.

He says Chad Gable made history last week as the first man to beat him in over 500 days.

By countout.

In a championship match.

So in reality he won nothing, because GUNTHER is still standing here as your Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion. But he did achieve one thing, and that’s pissing the Ring General off! He rants in German for a bit and says Chad has his attention and his focus now.

If Gable is the last thing between him and his rightful legacy, so be it, because next week Chad will challenge him for a second time on Monday Night Raw!

Enter Alpha Academy.

Gable says usually he’d shush GUNTHER but he’s made some good points, like how he went unbeaten for almost two years before last week, when Chad handed him his first loss in only ten seconds, baby! But next week he’s gonna take the title away in 1-2-3.

Feeling out, Gable sends Kaiser to the floor and cannonballs on him to send us to break!

Back from commercial, Gable with a series of arm drags into a top wristlock, Kaiser turns it around into a kneeling armbar! A little back and forth striking, Chad with an ankle lock, Ludwig fights out in the corner and lands a discus lariat! Up in the turnbuckles, Kaiser knocks him to the floor with a punch, running uppercut, and we go to back to break!

Back from commercial, Chad with rolling belly-to-belly suplexes, Kaiser fires headbutts in return, tilt-a-whirl slam for two! Trading chops, Gable with the upper hand, dragon screw, German suplex blocked and Ludwig hits a California Roll and a Penalty Kick... NOPE!

Running blockbuster from the Olympian, going up top, moonsault, nobody’s home but he lands on his feet, Gory Special dropped into a DDT... SO CLOSE! Sending Kaiser to the floor, Chad with a moonsault to wipe him and Giovanni Vinci out both! Gable on top of him, ankle lock, roll through, upkick for separation!

Ludwig with uppercuts, fireman’s carry, slip out, into the corner... CHAOS THEORY! VINCI BREAKS IT UP!

Chad Gable wins by disqualification.

Post-match, Otis Dozovic runs in and suplexes Vinci! Stinger Splash, Imperium get the better of him, GUNTHER comes down, powerbomb attempt but Gable reverses into an ankle lock! Kaiser and Vinci light on him, the Ring General throws them aside and powerbombs Chad with abandon!

Seth Rollins and his emerald satin pantsuit are strutting backstage to send us to break.

Back from commercial, we get a memorial for Bob Barker, also recently departed.

Seth Rollins makes his entrance and welcomes the crwod to Monday Night Rollins.

He says it’s been a long week and he’ll keep it short and sweet and calls Shinsuke Nakamura to give him what he wants right here and right now. If he’s got more mindgames or mean things to say he can Shinsuke on down this aisle and say them to his face.

When Nakamura doesn’t answer he goads him to come down and hear the people sing his song before cackling about how nobody sings Shinsuke’s song anymore. So, if Nakamura’s not coming down, maybe he heads on down to Beale Street, gets a stiff drink, and lets the people sing his song all night long!

Shinsuke appears on the tron in a video where he practices martial arts and talks about wanting to dismante Seth Rollins the man and force his wife to know that he’s the reason she has to help him out of bed and that he won’t be able to walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day.

He’ll break Seth because he can be broken, his body betrayed, and he’ll put him out of his misery.

Rollins is upset by being sent a video package and he wants to know what happened to the Shinsuke Nakamura who headlined the Tokyo Dome and lit the world on fire when he came to NXT. A month ago he would have given Shinsuke the shirt off his broken back, but his broken back didn’t stand in the way of him winning the world heavyweight championship and it won’t stop him from beating Nakamura’s ass on Saturday.

He’s going to maul him and he won’t stop until he’s pulled away, and when he’s lying there defeated he’ll know he can’t take anything from Rollins, not his title, not his future, and not his family.

NAKAMURA ATTACKS FROM BEHIND AND CHOKES SETH OUT, WHISPERING IN HIS EAR BEFORE KICKING HIS HEAD IN!

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are backstage.

Sami cuts a promo about how the Judgment Day keep coming back no matter how hard they get beaten, and if they want to do this one more time, they will. He asks Kev to explain how it’s gonna go down and Owens says the rules won’t be in their favor because they’re sick of this and they went to Adam Pearce and it’ll be a Steel City Street Fight for the tag titles at Payback!

Bronson Reed attacks Tommaso Ciampa in his entrance and bowls him over on the ramp!

In the ring, passing Reed to the floor, running knee connects and a diving knee follows as referee Aja Perera tries to restore order and we go to break with the match yet to begin!

Back from commercial, match in progress, Ciampa off the turnbuckles with a Lou Thesz Press into mounted punches! Off the ropes, Reed flattens him with a crossbody! Tom gets under him, Air Raid Crash connects... SO CLOSE! Back and forth, Willow’s Bell connects but Ciampa’s slow to capitalize!

Knee trembler connects but Bronson kicks out! Trading strikes, neither man budging, Ciampa gets a crucifix driver...

Tommaso Ciampa wins by pinfall with a crucifix driver.

Becky Lynch is interviewed backstage.

She admits she’s had second thoughts, third thoughts, and so on, but they’ve all been about whooping Zoey Stark all around the arena. She’s been backed into a corner but she doesn’t want the easy way out, and she’s bringing chaos to Memphis with her.

Rhea Ripley makes her entrance, Dominik Mysterio at her side as usual, to send us to break.

Back from commercial, we see NXT Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton in the front row.

Rhea Ripley gets on the mic.

She says Raquel Rodriguez had to fake an injury to get one up on her, but she doesn’t blame her. Her resume speaks for itself, after all, and she’s not gonna come out her and tell us all about her accomplishments because it’d take too damn long and the title around her waist proves everything.

She says Rodriguez is an idiot for thinking she’ll win the title, and she has her own accomplishments, like how she’s big and tough and strong, but she’s not Rhea bloody Ripley. Raquel can talk all she likes, but at Payback, Mami will walk out as champion.

Enter Raquel Rodriguez.

Rodriguez hits the ring and works Ripley over, beating her down and whipping her into the corner before hitting the fallaway slam! Dom gets up behind her, Raquel turns around and he begs off, but it’s just an opportunity for Rhea to land a headbutt! Pumphandle, Riptide countered into a hip toss and Rodriguez sends her packing with a lariat.

Trish Stratus cuts a promo backstage with Zoey Stark.

She calls Becky Lynch an idiot for taking this match and Zoey says when she’s done with Lynch she’ll leave plenty for Trish in the steel cage at Payback.

And so we go to break.

Back from commercial, we get some hype for the WWE / NFL title belt partnership.

Commentary hypes up the Payback card.

A memorial video for the late, great Terry Funk follows.

Becky Lynch makes her entrance and we go to break.

Back from commercial, we get some hype for next week’s Raw.

Action to the floor in short order, Trish Stratus getting involved with kendo stick shots, Stark wants a powerbomb but Lynch fights her off and knocks Trish down as she climbs up top and takes both of them out with a crossbody for a nearfall! Becky going under the ring for plunder, Zoey whacks her with a kendo stick and goes for a cover for two!

Back inside, beating Lynch down, Stratus throws a chair in but it hits Stark! Becky with a nearfall, Trish keeps throwing chairs in without much regard for directionality and Zoey piles some chairs up, Lynch gets her hung up in the ropes for the diving leg drop and into the Dis-Arm-Her!

Stark breaks it and puts Becky face-first into the chairs! Z360 blocked, Manhandle Slam connects but Trish breaks it up! Fighting to the stage, Zoey in control, a big nearfall and we go to break!

Back from commercial, Lynch throws Stark back over the barricade to ringside and drops an elbow on her! Cradle suplex into the barricade, cover... NOPE! Back in the ring, Zoey with repeated chairshots, corkscrew senton atomico... NOT ENOUGH! To the floor, Becky tearing the announce desk up, setting Stark on top of it, climbing to meet her but Trish plays equalizer and trips her up.

Zoey hits a knee, cover for two, Lynch takes her to a platform just past the timekeeper’s area, Stratus hooks her... BULLDOG OFF THE PLATFORM AND THROUGH A TABLE! Trish drags Stark over for the cover... NOT ENOUGH! Trish and Becky end up fighting on top of some road cases, Zoey joins them and accidentally blasts Stratus off and to the floor!

Becky hooks her...

Becky Lynch wins by pinfall with a Manhandle Slam off some road cases and through a table.

That’s the show, folks.