Johnny Gargano Returns On August 22, 2022

Johnny Gargano returned on WWE Raw after a nine month layoff. The Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada showered him with praise and chants of “holy [expletive].” Gargano re-introduced himself to a crowd that was clearly familiar with his work.

Gargano announced he was betting on himself, and confirmed that Johnny Wrestling is back in WWE. After a great return promo, Gargano was immediately confronted by Theory, who portrayed his “son” while he was part of The Way in WWE NXT. The segment ended when Gargano super kicked Theory.

WWE Raw from Toronto, Ontario Canada advertised the return of Trish Stratus as well as Edge vs. Damian Priest in a homecoming for Edge. Raw also featured Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky vs. Alexa Bliss and Asuka in the semifinals of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament.

Last week’s broadcast of WWE Raw garnered 1.978 million viewers.

WWE Raw Results on August 22, 2022

• Dakota Kai and Kyo Sky def. Alexa Bliss and Asuka
• Finn Balor def. Dolph Ziggler
• Kevin Owens def. Chad Gable
• Bayley def. Aliyah
• Bobby Lashley and AJ Styles vs. Ciampa and The Miz ends in a No Contest

WWE Raw Ratings

• August 15, 2022 | 1.978 million
• August 8, 2022 | 1.957 million
• August 1, 2022 | 2.230 million
• July 25, 2022 | 1.901 million
• July 18, 2022 | 1.765 million

• WWE Raw Venue: Scotiabank Arena (Toronto, ON)
• WWE Raw Tickets Distributed: 14,031
• WWE Raw Tickets Available: 75

WWE Raw Highlights| August 22, 2022

Trish Stratus Returns

Following the opening video package and promo, WWE Raw began abruptly as Seth Rollins and Riddle were immediately seen brawling backstage. This was reminiscent of the go-home show for WWE Raw, the first broadcast under Triple H, where Raw began with a wild brawl between The Miz and Logan Paul.

Trish Stratus received a great reaction but then waited around for a chant to started and was only able to get a feint “welcome home” chant. Fans eventually got on the same page to chant “welcome back.”

Trish Stratus teased returning to the ring multiple times, only for this to lead into the scheduled tag team semifinals match between Sky/Kai and Bliss/Asuka.

Dakota Kai and Io Shirai def. Alexa Bliss and Asuka

Asuka and Iyo Sky was treated like a big deal in this match, as the announcers talked up both of their legendary NXT careers, but this crowd is still getting to know Sky and didn’t pop the way they should have.

Sky and Kai won this very good match after Sky rolled up Asuka, all while trying to avoid her throughout the match. Hopefully this will slowly build up to a singles match between Sky and Asuka, because that would be amazing.

Finn Balor def. Dolph Ziggler

It appears as if The Judgment Day and/or Finn Balor finally received new theme music.

Dolph Ziggler and Finn Balor had a very good interaction backstage prior to this match, one where Dolph Ziggler used the elusive “B-word” and received the desired “ooohs” from the crowd.

The crowd was very much in to Dolph Ziggler, chanting “let’s go Ziggler” as the match reached its climactic portions. There was even a loud “holy [expletive]” chant.

Kevin Owens def. Chad Gable

Otis is slowly growing his hair and beard back, which gives me hope that maybe the old Otis is set to return in the Triple H era.

Kevin Owens, who received a great reaction from the Canadian crowd, walked out with a new t-shirt that resembled the vintage “KO” duct tape logo.

In addition to the old-school look, Kevin Owens won this match with his original finisher the pop-up power bomb. This was NXT Kevin Owens for sure.

As Alpha Academy ganged up on Kevin Owens, fans chanted for Sami Zayn, however this was not necessary as Owens overcame the assault on his own.

Bayley def. Aliyah

Surprisingly Bayley delivered on her promise to return to the ring against Aliyah in an unadvertised match.

Outside of early chants of “Bayley sucks,” there wasn’t a ton of crowd heat for this one, and by the end this felt more like a tune-up for Bayley than anything else.

Bobby Lashley and AJ Styles vs. Ciampa and The Miz

The highlight of this match came when a riot squad apprehended what appeared to be Dexter Lumis, until Lumis revealed himself in riot squad disguise on the other side of the ring. Surprisingly, Lumis kidnapped The Miz.

After this match was thrown out, Lashley and Styles laid waste to Ciampa, who came off like an enhancement talent in this sequence after weeks of solid booking.

Johnny Gargano Returns

Instead of being another throwaway indie prototype in AEW, Johnny Gargano instead showed up in a surprise appearance on WWE Raw, where he will receive a push in the Triple H Era.

Johnny Gargano received a “baby wrestling” chant after mentioning his new six-month old.

Right on cue, Theory confronted Johnny Gargano in a promo that was shouted down with “what” chants.

Edge def. Damian Priest

An emotional Beth Phoenix was shown in the crowd during Edge’s entrance.

This match had a slow start, but began picking up right after Edge went through a table.

Priest got a visual pinfall over Edge after striking him with a leg from a steel chair.

Edge won this match with a Spear but not before hitting a Canadian Destroyer.