Winners And Grades On August 28, 2023

WWE Raw advertised Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark ahead of Lynch’s cage match against Trish Stratus this Saturday at WWE Payback. Raw also advertised the New Day vs. the Viking Raiders, Bronson Reed vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Chad Gable vs. Ludwig Kaiser.

Facing stiff competition from NFL preseason football, last week’s broadcast of WWE Raw tumbled, garnered 1.591 million viewers.

WWE Raw Results on August 28, 2023

• Damian Preist def. Sami Zayn
• The Viking Raiders def. The New Day
• Chad Gable def. Ludwig Kaiser via DQ
• Tommaso Ciampa def. Bronson Reed

WWE Raw Ratings

• August 21, 2023 | 1.591 million
• August 14, 2023 | 1.757 million
• August 7, 2023 | 1.890 million
• July 31, 2023 | 1.759 million
• July 24, 2023 | 1.818 million

• WWE Raw Venue: FedEx Forum (Memphis, Tenn.)
• WWE Raw Tickets Distributed: 7,308
• WWE Raw Tickets Available: 477

WWE Raw Winners And Grades

Damian Priest Def. Sami Zayn

WWE announced a Tag Team
TISI
Championship match pitting Zayn and Owens against Finn Balor and Damian Priest this Saturday at Payback.

JD McDonagh interfered, assisting Priest with the win. Priest shoved McDonagh and told him to stay out of his business. Even Michael Cole seemed annoyed while once again emphasizing that Priest doesn’t want McDonagh’s help.

Priest vs. Zayn Grade: B-

The Miz Dresses Up As LA Knight

Similar to his impression of The Rock, The Miz ripped off The Miz by dressing up as LA Knight, only to then go on to dress down LA Knight for ripping off The Rock and Steve Austin.

The Miz compared LA Knight’s “yeah” to “what,” as if MizTV wasn’t stolen from Piper’s Pit. A truly admirable heel.

The Miz’s promo came off like a temper tantrum from WWE due to how organically popular LA Knight has gotten.

Though Wade Barrett is a heel commentator, he is also an LA Knight supporter and backed Knight against The Miz ahead of this Saturday’s Payback match.

Miz LA Knight Promo: B

The Viking Raiders Def. The New Day

Backstage, Matt Riddle showed Drew McIntyre a rendering of McIntyre in Riddle-like gear. It didn’t look half-bad. Riddle even teased wearing a kilt to the ring, which would be an upgrade from his shortened trunks.

This week’s tag team pun given to Drew McIntyre and Matt Riddle—seated ringside—is McRiddle. It’s the best pun yet.

Similar to Riddle and Randy Orton, the longer McIntyre and Riddle are together, the less I want them to break up. Riddle has had similar chemistry with Pete Dunne (Butch), Timothy Thatcher and Orton. Riddle is the Frank’s Red Hot of wrestling. He goes with everything.

Cole and Barrett continuously referred to Erik and Ivar as “the Raiders.”

Memphis, Tenn. showered Woods with chants of “whoop that trick,” in the spirit of the classic Tennessee-based film Hustle and Flow.

Ivar drove Kofi Kingston into Riddle and McIntyre, causing McIntyre to begin tossing office chairs into the ring, and later (accidentally) at Xavier Woods.

Backstage, Rhea Ripley threatened that if the Judgment Day didn’t all walk out with gold, there would be some changes.

New Day vs. Viking Raiders Grade: B

Chad Gable Def. Ludwig Kaiser Via DQ

Chad Gable cut a great babyface promo on IMPERIUM and Ludwig Kaiser to match GUNTHER’s heel promo.

Wade Barrett noted that if Chad Gable eliminated the “catch phrases and silliness,” Gable would fit in great with IMPERIUM. Barrett was essentially saying Gable needed to make himself more generic to join the group.

A very long match ultimately ended in disqualification when Giovani Vinci interfered.

GUNTHER tried to finish off Gable with a power bomb, but Gable countered into an ankle lock. GUNTHER then laid out Gable once and for all after shoving his stable mates aside. I have no interest in seeing Gable challenge GUNTHER for the Intercontinental Championship, WWE did nothing to convince me he had a chance with this long segment.

Chad Gable vs. Ludwig Kaiser Grade: B-

Seth Rollins Calls Out Shinsuke Nakamura

Seth Rollins paid tribute to Bray Wyatt with a “Yowie Wowie” reference.

Rollins said fans don’t sing Shinsuke Nakamura’s song anymore. Had WWE played Shinsuke’s song, I guarantee you they would have done just that.

WWE aired another very good Shinsuke Nakamura video package, this time with Nakamura training while threatening to injure Rollins so bad he won’t be able to walk his daughter to her wedding day.

Rollins asked what happened to the Shinsuke Nakamura that headlined the Tokyo Dome. It was a spirited promo that was cut off by another Nakamura sneak attack. WWE played Nakamura’s music after, and yes, fans sang along.

Rollins-Nakamura Grade: B+

Tommaso Ciampa Def. Bronson Reed

In a rare feat of apathy, this match started with neither Tommaso Ciampa or Bronson Reed receiving an entrance.

Bronson Reed dominated long stretches of this match, but Tommaso Ciampa made a comeback and ultimately pulled off a surprise win. These two are capable of having great matches together, and even a great feud, but WWE needs to show they care before anybody else does.

Ciampa vs. Reed Grade: B-

Rhea Ripley Calls Out Raquel Rodriguez

Tiffany Stratton was seated in the front row to promote WWE NXT
XT
tomorrow.

Dominik Mysterio didn’t say a single word during Rhea Ripley’s promo, saving WWE at least five minutes of heat.

Fans chanted “whoop that trick” as Raquel laid waste to Rhea Ripley, but I think they were chanting it in support of Rhea.

Unlike with Chad Gable, WWE made the challenger look strong as Raquel Rodriguez escaped the Riptide and ran off the heels.

Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez Grade: C+

Becky Lynch Vs. Zoey Stark

There was a funny moment where Trish threw a chair into the ring and it accidentally hit Zoey Stark in the face. The spot was clearly unplanned but all parties played it off great.

This was essentially a two-on-one match with Stratus repeatedly interfering. Stratus was ultimately ran off by Lunch and a kendo stick.

Becky Lynch vs. Zoey Stark Grade: B