WWE Raw Recap, Grades & Opinion: August 26, 2019

WWE Raw Recap: August 26, 2019

A.K.A. The One Where Ziggler & Roode Became BFFs

Results:

Ricochet def. Drew McIntyre to advance in the King of the Ring tournament
Baron Corbin def. The Miz to advance in the King of the Ring tournament
Bayley def. Nikki Cross
Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode win a tag-team turmoil match to earn a tag team title shot at Clash of Champions
- Viking Raiders def. The B-Team
- Viking Raiders & The O.C. go to a double disqualification
- Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode def. Lucha House Party
- Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode def. The Revival
- Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode def. Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins
- Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode def. Heavy Machinery
Sasha Banks def. Natalya
Cedric Alexander def. Cesaro
A.J. Styles def. Braun Strowman by disqualification

Match of the Night: Ricochet def. Drew McIntyre to advance in the King of the Ring tournament

Is it a shock that these two put on a clinic? No, not at all. Both men were favorites to win King of the Ring when the field was announced, so a first round matchup between the two was sure to produce fireworks. McIntyre looked to have it won multiple times over, but Ricochet held on. The 630 Splash put McIntyre away and advanced Ricochet to the next round. After such a definitive win, Ricochet is now a definite favorite to win the tournament.

Three Thoughts:

Bad, Bad Banks

Sasha Banks is back and she is mean as ever. Banks opened Raw this week and talked about how she runs the women’s division. The promo was a little all over the place, but Banks got across the message: she’s the number one woman, not Becky Lynch or anyone else. Natalya came out to brawl with The Boss and Banks got the upper hand.

Later in the show we saw Banks’ first match back since her hiatus. She hasn’t missed a step in the ring. Banks was vicious and won with a Bank Statement. After the match, Banks locked it in once more for good measure and laughed at the pain she inflicted on Natalya. While her referencing the rumors about her hiatus was an odd choice, Banks still has a fire in her since her return. WWE should be capitalizing on it quickly, so a quick title change doesn’t seem out of the question.

#TheBoss @SashaBanksWWE is BACK in the squared circle and she's more vicious than ever! #RAW @NatByNature pic.twitter.com/AN5CVyEHrG

— WWE (@WWE) August 27, 2019

King of the Ring Continues

We already touched on the excellent Ricochet-McIntyre match from the King of the Ring first round. The other match had Baron Corbin go over The Miz in a good content. Corbin had some promo time after winning the match, and it would not surprise me to see him go far or even win the crown. If WWE wants someone who will be an insufferable king, Corbin is the absolute choice.

Also, Cedric Alexander looked worn down after his win over Cesaro. Don’t be surprised if he’s not 100% when he faces Corbin next week, leading to Corbin advancing.

Tag Title Turmoil

What is going on with the Raw Tag Team Championships? WWE shuffled them onto Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman last week as a way to ignite their Universal Championship feud. It’s a move WWE loves, having two babyfaces who are feuding win the tag titles and try to “get along”. All it does for the belts is make them feel less important. Oh, and Strowman just asked Rollins for a Universal Championship shot and got it for Clash of Champions.

This week, an eight-team gauntlet happened for a tag title shot at Clash of Champions. Well established and successful teams like The O.C., Viking Raiders, or Revival were passed over. The win went to the thrown-together team of Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. While we should definitely give this time to play out, it sure looks like WWE doesn’t care about it’s tag team titles. If they don’t care, why should we?

Latest Wrestling News

Grade: C

This show dragged, especially in the middle. The tag team turmoil/gauntlet match was disappointing through and through and took the crowd out of the show. Strowman and Styles had a short but enjoyable match. The best part of the show was undoubtedly Ricochet versus McIntyre, which happened in the first forty minutes of the show. Most of the rest of the show was pretty forgettable.

One More Thing:

Braun Strowman got disqualified because Styles pulled an Eddie Guerrero. It was the best thing on the whole show. Styles flopped like a Toy Story toy when Andy gets home.

https://twitter.com/tde_wrestling/status/1166183656194486275

– Evan Gomes is the Managing Editor of Pro Wrestling for Full Press Coverage. Like and follow on Follow @EvanGomes_ Follow @FPC_Wrestling and Facebook.

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