Welcome to Bleacher Report’s coverage and recap of WWE Raw on August 29.
We’re just five days away from WWE’s Clash at Castle pay-per-view from Cardiff, Wales, so most segments of Monday’s show were designed to hype the upcoming event.
Kurt Angle made a special appearance this week, and The Usos traveled to Raw with Sami Zayn to represent The Bloodline.
Riddle and Seth Rollins clashed, Bobby Lashley captured The Miz, and the women’s tag titles found a new home when Io Skye and Dakota Kai defeated Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah to crown the new champions in the tournament final. .
Let’s take a look at what happened on Monday’s episode of Raw.
AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler vs The Judgment Day
Raw began with Dolph Ziggler and AJ Styles entering for the first match of the night against Finn Balor and Damien Priest of The Judgment Day.
The Showoff and The Prince started for their teams and had a fast-paced exchange. The show went on a break before we even reached the 10-minute mark, so Balor had plenty of time to turn things around and take control.
Styles and Priest tagged around the same time, so they were both fresh when it came time for them to work. Phenomenal One almost won with a calf crusher, but Balor helped his partner reach the bottom rope.
It looked like Ziggler and Styles had it in their bags, but Judgment Day recovered and was able to take the win when The Archer of Infamy hit The Showoff with a massive chokeslam.
This match was good, but with five more minutes, it could have been the best thing of the show. Edge was shown coming backstage, so Judgment Day decided to stay in the ring.
All three members of the group turned on the mic before Edge came out and issued a response. Rey and Dominic Mysterio attacked the trio from behind with a kendo stick, but Dominic was hesitant to hit Rhea Ripley. She took the stick from him, and the segment ended with The Judgment Day shouting at Edge and Mysterios from the crowd.
Winner: Judgment Day
Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Bianca Belair vs. Local Talent
In the next match, Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Bianca Belair faced three indie wrestlers. WWE’s EST took everyone down because they were trying to measure up to him.
The match lasted only a few minutes and ended with Asuka tapped out to one of the other women.
It was a good show for the winners, but it was also a bit random. On the plus side, WWE found winners to hire, all well done.
Winners: Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Bianca Belair
Alpha Academy vs The Street Profits
Kurt Angle came out after the match, but was quickly stopped by Chad Gable and Otis. Gable talked about idolizing Angle and being inspired by him.
Things escalated from there until the two Olympians almost got into a fight, bringing The Street Profits to challenge Alpha Academy to a match. Gable agreed as long as Angle agreed to join his team if they won.
Montez Ford and Otis debuted after the commercial break. Dodger hit a big powerslam to take control after a short burst of offense from his opponent.
Both teams had some moments to shine, but there were more exciting spots in the profits. Ford usually has more of them, but Angelo Dawkins has upped his game enough to make them just as much fun to watch.
Ford reversed the ankle lock applied by Gable, but Otis saved his teammate from being tapped out. Profit still won when Ford sniped heavily on Gable to get the pin.
It was an entertaining match between four great athletes who have completely different skill sets. They bonded well together.
Winner: The Street Profits
The Miz vs Bobby Lashley
Miz was shown dealing with some trauma from being kidnapped by Dexter Loomis last week, but he declined to say what happened.
We caught a glimpse of Loomis backstage at one point before heading out to face The A-Lister’s Bobby Lashley.
As expected, The All Mighty took control almost immediately. The United States Champion tore Miz’s shirt off before hitting him with a vertical suplex.
Ciampa helped The Miz take the lead at ringside, but the former WWE Champion was still keeping his eyes open for Loomis. It didn’t take long for The All Mighty to regain his composure and dominate his opponent again.
Loomis appeared in the crowd but disappeared before the A-lister could do anything about it. This allowed Lashley to apply a heart lock for the win.
It was a relatively similar performance, but the story unfolding in the background is certainly interesting.
Winner: Bobby Lashley