WWE did a good job of getting every RAW star booked for SummerSlam on the go-home edition of the show. CM Punk and Gunther had one final face-to-face showdown with The Best in the World, leaving the champ angry in the ring.
Every member of the Judgment Day competed, as AJ Styles teamed with the Kabuki Warriors against Roxanne Perez, Raquel Rodriguez, and Dominik Mysterio.
The tag team title match, however, featured outside interference from El Grande Americano and yet another mysterious masked individual.
The show opened with another tribute to the recently deceased Hulk Hogan, but WWE still made the next four mistakes on the final RAW before SummerSlam.
#4. RAW’s opening and closing segments drag on
After the tribute to The Hulkster, Jey Uso came out for the first of his two entrances on RAW. As if that didn’t waste enough time, he and Paul Heyman had a rather boring promo exchange ahead of the main event and SummerSlam.
The Oracle claimed everyone lies, and that Jey cannot trust his family. Jey said his usual words regarding how he made his singles success on his own. That took up about 15 minutes, and the first match didn’t start until about 8:30 pm. (EST USA time).
The final segment was another match between Jey and Bronson Reed, but it again ended due to interference from Bron Breakker. Roman Reigns slowly trotted out, but the segment dragged on and on for about 10 minutes.
The attack was to sow doubt whether Reigns and Jey would make it to SummerSlam, but there’s little to no chance of The Tribal Chief losing this weekend.
#3. The World Tag Team Champions don’t get a televised entrance
Since they weren’t booked for SummerSlam, Finn Balor and JD McDonagh defended the World tag titles on RAW against the LWO.
The title match came together quickly, with Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro earning #1 Contender status last week. That fact, and it being the Judgment Day’s first defense, left little doubt as to who would leave with the belts.
The strange part was that the LWO received a televised entrance before RAW had a commercial break. When the show returned, Balor and McDonagh were in the ring.
The champs should have the televised entrance, especially since the Judgment Day has been a heavy focal point of the show for the last four years.
#2. Potentially telegraphing the finish of the Intercontinental Title match at SummerSlam
Styles and the Kabuki Warriors defeated the Judgment Day in a mixed six-person tag match. The Phenomenal One pinned Dirty Dom after Asuka and Kairi Sane neutralized Perez and Rodriguez.
He hit the Intercontinental Champion with the Phenomenal Forearm to pick up the win. While it was a fun match between Styles and the Kabuki Warriors, getting the pin on Dirty Dom potentially telegraphs the finish at SummerSlam.
When a star loses on a go-home show, they often win at the PLE. This happened twice to Jacy Jayne when Masha Slamovich got the upper hand on her ahead of their Winner Takes All match at Slammiversary. Jayne won at the big event.
Sane and Asuka could have pinned Rodriguez to protect the finish of the Intercontinental title match. They aren’t booked for the weekend, and bookers didn’t have a problem with Charlotte Flair pinning her two weeks ago.
#1. Another predictable Roman Reigns appearance
Roman Reigns was advertised for RAW, but if you didn’t watch the last 10 minutes, you would have missed him. He didn’t appear on the stage during the Hogan tribute like nearly every other major star (Punk, Gunther, Jey Uso, Heyman, Bron Breakker).
Since Jey was facing Reed yet again, the only thing The Tribal Chief would do was save his cousin from a two-on-one attack. That’s exactly what happened to close out RAW.
However, Breakker and Reed left him lying after an onslaught of spears and Tsunamis. Everyone knew that Heyman’s duo would gang up on The Yeet Master, so why didn’t he back up his cousin during the match? It just felt lazy booking for a guy who’s probably leaving again after SummerSlam.
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