The August 13th, 2018 edition of WWE RAW aired live from the Greensboro Colliseum in Greensboro, NC.
– This week’s show opens up with Ronda Rousey in the ring, and she has a microphone. Ronda starts talking about Natalya’s father, Jim Neidhart, passing away today. Ronda sends a message to Natalya to stay strong and says they all love her. Ronda says Alexa Bliss cheated to beat Natalya time and time again, but this Sunday she is going to beat Alexa Bliss and take the Women’s Title once and for all. Ronda then introduces Ember Moon, who is in action next.
After Ember Moon steps in the ring, Alexa Bliss and Alicia Fox come out to the stage. Alicia cuts a scathing promo on Ronda, saying she’s a spoiled brat, and she’s sick of her and Kurt Angle defending her. Alexa says she spoke to the only fair authority figure around here – Constable Baron Corbin, who encouraged her to hire her own personal security, which consists of four guys. Alexa, Alicia and her security step in the ring, and Alexa bumps Ronda off the apron from behind. Ronda gets in the ring and Alexa’s security gets in her face, so Ronda starts beating them all up. Alexa and Alicia retreat to ringside as Ronda stands tall in the ring and we go to commercial.
– Alexa Bliss vs. Ember Moon: Alicia and Ronda are both at ringside for this one. Alexa and Ember trade headlocks and hammer locks in the opening moments. Ember takes control after a leg sweep and Alexa rolls outside for a breather. Ember hits a baseball slide kick on Bliss at ringside, then takes her back in the ring. Bliss starts to fire up until Ember stuns her with a jawbreaker. Alexa recovers and continues bringing the fight to Ember. Ember fires back with a series of kicks, and then hits a vertical suplex for a two count. Alicia gets on the apron for the distraction, but Ronda takes her out. Bliss rolls outside to attack Ronda. Back in the ring, Ember drops Alexa and hits the Eclipse. Alicia runs in to break up the pin, and then Ronda hits the ring and beats down Alicia.
Winner via DQ: Ember Moon
– Ronda hits a few judo throws on Alicia before Alicia retreats to ringside with Alexa. Alexa and Alicia head up the ramp as Ronda and Ember stand tall in the ring.
– We go to the broadcast team, which consists on Michael Cole, Corey Graves and Renee Young this week. They introduce a video package looking back at the history between Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman and Kurt Angle leading up to SummerSlam. We see footage from Paul Heyman’s interview last week, where he trails off saying “Roman Reign’s can’t beat Lesnar unless…” and leaves.
– Kurt Angle confronts Baron Corbin backstage for going over his head to Stephanie to book matches tonight. Corbin says he doesn’t need Angle’s permission, he just needs to go to the ring. Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre walk in to Kurt’s office next, and they question where Seth Rollins is. Kurt says Rollins had travel issues and he’ll be here tonight, and he tells Drew and Dolph to get out of his office and wait somewhere else.
– Baron Corbin vs. Tyler Breeze: Cole explains on commentary that Corbin booked himself in this match, and he booked Finn Balor in a singles match later tonight too. Corbin starts off strong, but Breeze fights back with kicks and knocks Corbin outside. Breeze goes to fly off the apron towards Corbin, but Corbin catches him and slams him into the fan barricade. Back in the ring, Corbin continues to beat Breeze down and stomp on him. They fight out to ringside again where Breeze connects with a kick to the head that stuns Corbin. Back on the ring apron, Breeze hits Corbin in the midsection and then springboards back in the ring. Breeze runs the ropes but Corbin catches him and hits the Deep Six for the win.
Winner: Baron Corbin
– After the match, Corbin gets on the mic and talks about how great he is. He then reveals Finn Balor’s opponent for tonight: Jinder Mahal. Corbin says since Balor thinks he’s such a big man, he shouldn’t mind facing two opponents in a handicap match. Corbin introduces Balor’s second opponent, a close personal friend of his: Kevin Owens.
– Balor comes out to the ring for his match, but before it starts, Kurt Angle comes out to the stage to interrupt. Kurt says Corbin may have been given authority to do this, but Kurt still makes the matches, and he’s adding someone to this match to make it a tag team match. Balor’s tag partner will be Braun Strowman.
– Kevin Owens & Jinder Mahal vs. Finn Balor & Braun Strowman: Finn and Jinder will start this one off. Jinder overpowers Finn early on to start the match off strong. Balor comes back with a dropkick on Mahal, but Jinder shuts him down with a spear. Owens tags in and continues the offense on Balor, stomping him down to the mat. Owens drops a knee on Balor while he’s down, then applies a shoulder lock. Jinder tags back in and drops some knees on Balor, then tags Owens back in to keep the momentum going. Owens misses a shot in the corner and Balor tags in Strowman. Owens runs away and tags in Jinder. Strowman chases Owens outside and then turns his attention to Jinder. Jinder hits some shots on Strowman and stuns him, but Braun shuts him down with a shot to the chest. Braun boots Jinder back down to the mat, then pummels on him in the corner. Jinder starts to get up but Strowman drops him with a running shoulder tackle. Strowman clumbs Jinder back down to the mat, then tags in Finn. Strowman picks up Finn and slams him on to Jinder, although Finn didn’t seem to know it was coming. Finn continues the offense on Jinder and dumps him outside. Balor looks for a suicide dive, but Owens trips him from the apron. Braun chases Owens around the ring now, and Balor goes flying out of the ring with a suicide dive on both Owens and Jinder on the floor. Back in the ring, Jinder turns it around against Finn with the help of Owens. Owens tags in and drops an elbow on Balor, then Jinder tags back in and puts Finn in a chin lock. Balor starts fighting back with elbows to the face and he looks for a tag, but Jinder stops him and rams Finn into the corner. Finn fights back and dumps Jinder out to the ringside floor. Balor looks to tag in Braun, but Owens tags in and runs over and stops Finn. Owens runs Balor off the ropes and Balor answers with a sling blade. Braun gets the hot tag and cleans house. Jinder is the legal man now and Braun lays into him with shoulder tackles. Braun runs around ringside, picks up Sunil Singh, and then rams him into Owens on the ringside floor. Back in the ring, Jinder starts fighting back, but Braun catches him and it doesn’t look good for the Modern Day Maharaja. Braun hits the running powerslam for the three count.
Winners: Braun Strowman & Finn Balor
– Braun picks up his Money In The Bank briefcase and celebrates the win with Balor in the ring. Braun spots Kevin at ringside and chases him all the way back through the curtain. Balor is left alone in the ring, and then Baron Corbin runs in out of nowhere. Corbin hits the End of Days on Balor.
– Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre approach Kurt Angle backstage again. They say Seth Rollins is scared of them and he won’t be showing up tonight. They talk trash about Seth, but Kurt assures them that Rollins will be here tonight. Ziggler says since he showed up on time, he wants to look at their contract for SummerSlam to see if there are any mistakes. Dolph jokes that they spelled his name wrong and walks off.
– Bobby Lashley is shown backstage warming up.
– We are introduced to a country singer in the ring named Ricky, supposedly from Greensboro. He says his favorite artist is Elias, and Ricky hopes that when he becomes a real music star like Elias, Elias will come to him and say those three magic words. Elias then walks on the stage and says “I am Elias.” Elias sits down with his guitar and says he doesn’t know if Kurt put him up to this, but there is only one Elias. Elias asks Ricky if he’s big enough of a fan to go on WWEShop.com and buy his new bracelet merchandise, and Ricky nods his head yes. Elias says if Ricky wants to prove himself tonight, he has to beat Bobby Lashley. Elias starts promoting an upcoming concert before SummerSlam, but his greatest performance yet will be at SummerSlam. Elias trashes Greensboro a little bit before Bobby Lashley comes out to interrupt. Lashley walks past Elias on the stage and steps into the ring with Ricky. He tells Ricky to find a new schtick because we already have a no-talent hack with a guitar. Elias tells Ricky to get ready, and when Lashley turns around to take his shirt off, Ricky smashes the guitar over his back. Lashley turns around and drops Ricky with a spinebuster. Elias walks off and Lashley heads up the ramp as Ricky recovers in the ring.
– The B Team is backstage talking about how their odds of losing are better than usual, because they have to face two teams at once, and they don’t have to get pinned to lose.Axel gives Dallas a pep talk saying this has been the best run of their lives, “so lets go out there and run for our lives.”
– The B Team (c) vs. Dash & Dawson vs. Matt Hardy & Bray Wyatt: Dash starts off strong against Dallas, then Matt tags himself in and beats down Wilder. Matt hits a flying elbow, but then he wastes some time and Dawson tags himself in. Dash and Dawson hit the Hart Attack on Hardy before Dawson continues the offense with strikes. Wilder tags back in and keeps the pressure on Hardy. Dawson and Wyatt come in now and Wyatt drops him with a shoulder block. Bra follows up with a splash in the corner and a side suplex, then Wilder comes in and walks into a side suplex too. Dallas comes in next and Wyatt drops him, then Dallas comes in and is able to stun Wyatt. The Revival gets back in the mix and everyone spills out to ringside. Wyatt slams Wilder into the ring apron, then Axel hits a flying clothesline off the ring steps onto Wyatt on the floor. Matt Hardy climbs up to the top rope, and Dawson follows him. Matt ends up superplexing Dawson off onto everyone else standing at ringside. Everyone is down at ringside now, and there’s no count-out as it’s a triple threat match. Back in the ring, The Revival hits the Shatter Machine on Bray, but Dallas is still the legal man and he runs in and dumps The Revival out to ringside. Dallas steals the pin on Wyatt for the three count.
Winners: The B Team
– After the match, the B Team takes their Tag Title belts and heads up the ramp as we o to replays.
– Roman Reigns is shown walking backstage. The B Team runs past him celebrating their win.
– Drew and Dolph approach Kurt Angle in the back again. They point out that Rollins still doesn’t appear to be here. Ziggler thn takes issue with a part of the contract that says Seth is allowed to have someone in his corner. Kurt says if Dolph is going to have Drew in his corner, Seth must have someone too, unless Dolph doesn’t want Drew there. Kurt says he can remove that clause from the contract if he wants, and Drew won’t be able to come out. Dolph says to leave it in, and they walk off again.
– Roman Reigns comes out to the ring and gets on the mic. He talks about wanting to leave WWE better than he found it, and he is sick of talking about and hearing about Brock Lesnar. Reigns says he’s going to beat Lesnar so bad back to the UFC, that his head will be stuck up Dana White’s ass. Paul Heyman then comes out to interrupt. Heyman says it’s a new day, and then he mentions The Usos saying they are the future of the tag division, and then he kisses up to Reigns too. Paul steps in the ring an says this is Reigns’ week, but why wait until Sunday to make history, when he can start making history tonight. Heyman says if he was in Reigns’ corner, he could tell him all of Lesnar’s secrets and weaknesses, and it would guarantee his victory at SummerSlam. Reigns says he already knows Lesnar’s weaknesses, and he doesn’t need Heyman. Heyman continues to try to sell Reigns on the idea and extends his hand. Reigns says his offer isn’t good enough, and he was groomed from a young age to succeed n this business. Reigns says he sees Paul is in trouble and he isn’t worth helping, and he wishes Paul good luck on his future endeavors. Paul talks about being young in the business and riding in cars with Afa and Sika, and he talks about Reigns’ dad teaching him something, then he says something in Samoan. Heyman says he wrote up a brief contract and hands it to Reigns. He tells Reigns not to answer him tonight, answer him on Sunday at SummerSlam. Reigns is looking down at the contract, and then Paul Heyman pulls out a can of what appears to be pepper spray, and he blasts Reigns in the face with it. Reigns is selling that he’s blinded as Paul continues spraying him. Paul steps out of the ring and stands on the ramp as a camera man helps wipe off Reigns’ face. Brock Lesnar’s music hits and the Universal Champion comes down the ramp. Brock hands his Title belt to Paul and then he hits the ring. Brock charges Reigns in the corner and attacks him with knees to the body, then he slams him down. Brock grabs Reigns again and puts him in a guillotine choke. Reigns goes limp and Brock lets go. Brock stares at the crowd and then leaves the ring to grab his Universal Title from Paul on the ramp. Lesnar and Heyman head to the back as Reigns sells the beating in the ring. Brock turns around and heads back down the ramp and hits the ring. Lesnar hits the F-5 on Reigns, then leaves again.
– Bobby Roode, Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews vs. The Authors Of Pain & Mojo Rawley: The Authors start off i ncontrol of this one, taking turns beating on Crews. Crews starts fighting back with kicks, but then Mojo tags in and drops Crews. Roode tags in now and goes at it with Mojo. Roode boots Mojo and then hits the Blockbuster off the middle rope, but Rezar breaks up the pin. Everyone comes in off the aprons, an when the dust settles Roode hits the Glorious DDT on Mojo for the three count.
Winners: Bobby Roode, Titus O’Neil & Apollo Crews
– Michael Cole introduces a video package paying tribute to the late Jim Neidhart. The broadcast team then runs down the card for Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
– We see a brief pre-taped promo by the Riott Squad asking if Bayley and Sasha Banks’ friendship can withstand a riot.
– Sasha Banks vs. Ruby Riott: Bayley and The Riott Squad are all at ringside. Sasha looks for the Banks Statement early on, but Ruby breaks free and rolls outside for a breather. Sasha follows her outside and kicks Ruby down. Sasha gets distracted by Liv and Sarah, which leads to Ruby throwing Sasha into the ring steps. Back in the ring, Ruby controls the match and boots Sasha in the face. Ruby keeps Sasha grounded with a shoulder lock until Sasha fights back with an arm drag and gets back in the game. Sasha gets involved with Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan at ringside, which leads to Ruby hitting Sasha on the apron and then rolls her up for the three count.
Winner: Ruby Riott
– Baron Corbin confronts Kurt Angle backstage as a staffer walks in to say Seth Rollins hasn’t arrived yet. Corbin tells Kurt he’s out of time, and Kurt walks off. If Rollins doesn’t show up to sign his SummerSlam contract tonight, he won’t have his match against Ziggler on Sunday.
– Kurt Angle comes out to the ring, which is set up with a table in it for a contract signing. Kurt gets on the mic and says before we get to this contract signing, he wants to say that he’s not suspending Brock Lesnar for his heinous attack tonight, as he wants Reigns to kick his ass on Sunday. Kurt starts saying Brock is the worst Champion of all time, and then Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre come out to interrupt. They get on the mic and say Seth isn’t coming, so lets get this over with. Dolph asks if he’s going to have to defend his Title on Sunday, or can he take the night off and do a stand-up comedy set. Kurt introduces Seth Rollins, but Rollins doesn’t come out, so Ziggler and McIntyre start trashing Rollins again. Drew says they do respect Seth every week because he keeps working, but he was only the Architect of his own downfall, because he pushed himself too hard for the fans. Ziggler continues to rant about the fans turning their backs on wrestlers like himself. Ziggler says McIntyre pushes him to be better every week, and he doesn’t care about the fans. Dolph tells Kurt to hand over the contract so they can officially make this a Seth Rollins forfeiture. Ziggler signs, and then Seth Rollins’ music hits and Rollins walks down the ramp. Rollins gets on the mic and apologizes for being late, but says he wanted to wait to come out until Ziggler signed the contract, because he didn’t want Ziggler to back out. Rollins says Ziggler won’t like what he’s about to say, because he’s sick and tired of Drew and Dolph double-teaming him. Rollins says to even the odds, he’s going to have Dean Ambrose in his corner on Sunday. Ambrose’s music hits and he comes out to the stage with short hair. Ambrose and Rollins head to the ring and start brawling with Dolph and Drew. Ambrose dumps Dolph outside as Rollins superkicks Drew. Ambrose follows up with the Dirty Deeds on McIntyre. McIntyre and Ziggler recover at ringside as Rollins and Ambrose stand tall in the ring. Rollins signs the SummerSlam contract as RAW goes off the air.
