Pre-Show Arrivals

Drew McIntyre is back from suspension and arrived at the Nutter Center earlier today. World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest is shown arriving, as is Gunther. They will meet face-to-face in the ring later tonight. Finally, we see Ilja Dragunov and WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn arriving. Zayn will defend the title against Dragunov later tonight.

In the arena, “The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus makes his entrance. He’ll face “Big” Bronson Reed next.

-Commercial Break-

Backstage Segment

“Dirty” Dominik Mysterio is chasing after Rhea Ripley backstage. She walks ahead of him and pays him no mind. She enters the Judgment Day’s Clubhouse and sees bouquets of black roses. She asks, “What the hell is all this?” Mysterio says he’s trying to make it up to her. Ripley slams the door in his face. Mysterio turns and sees World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest standing there smirking. Priest asks if everything is ok. Ripley opens the door, throws the black roses into Mysterio’s face, and shoves a dog statue into his chest before slamming the door again. Priest is amused. Mysterio says it’s a little complicated.

Sheamus vs. “Big” Bronson Reed

Replay: Last week on Raw, “Big” Bronson Reed defeated Pete Dunne with a Tsunami. After the match, he went to attack Dunne further, but Sheamus made the save for his old Brawling Brutes partner. Dunne was not happy that Sheamus helped and walked off on him.

The bell rings, and they immediately begin trading big, meaty clubs to the face. Reed reverses a whip to the corner, but Sheamus boots him back and goes for a shoulder tackle. Reed doesn’t go down. Sheamus hits the ropes, but Reed shoulder tackles him. Reed hits a snapmare and flattens him with a rolling senton. Sheamus fights back with a shot to the midsection and some uppercuts. Sheamus kicks him and tries to lift him up, but Reed elbows him down. Reed head-butts him down onto the mat before getting him in the corner for a chop. Sheamus fights out of the corner and shoulder tackles the big man out of the ring. Sheamus knees him in the face as he attempts to get back in the ring. Sheamus sets up for the 10 Beats of the Bodhran, but Reed fights out and pulls him out of the ring. Reed comes off the apron with a flying shoulder tackle. Reed then sends Sheamus over the commentary table. Reed gets in the ring to break the count. Reed approaches Sheamus, but Sheamus bounces him off the commentary table and hits the 10 Beats of the Bodhran on the table! Sheamus embraces Pat McAfee, who appears to be terrified.

-Commercial Break-

We return from the break to see Reed punching Sheamus down. Sheamus challenges him to hit him harder. Sheamus gets to his feet and punches back at Reed. Sheamus hits a pair of short-arm clotheslines, but Reed doesn’t go down. A third one sends Reed to his knees. Sheamus gets fired up and hits a fourth short-arm clothesline, finally taking Reed down. Sheamus gets Reed on his shoulders and hits an impressive White Noise for a near fall!

Sheamus heads to the top rope and goes for a diving clothesline, but Reed sidesteps him. Sheamus rolls through and charges, but Reed counters with a sit-out powerbomb. 1… 2… Sheamus kicks out. Reed goes to the top rope for a moonsault, but Sheamus moves! Sheamus smashes him in the jaw with a vicious knee to the face for the win!

Winner by Pinfall: Sheamus

Sheamus celebrates on the turnbuckles. Reed is irate and charges to attack Sheamus from behind, but Pete Dunne intercepts him with a Busaiku Knee Kick. Sheamus extends his hand to thank Dunne, but Dunne angrily walks off on him. Sheamus turns, so Dunne attacks him from behind and walks off. Reed takes advantage and heads to the top rope. Dunne shrugs his shoulders as Reed crushes Sheamus with a Tsunami!

The Judgment Day Clubhouse

World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest is with Rhea Ripley. The rest of the Judgment Day, minus “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, are playing WWE 2K24. He tells her it’s great to have her back. Ripley appreciates him holding everything down while she’s been gone. She says Priest still has a lot on his plate, and he is meeting with Gunther and facing Braun Strowman tonight. Priest says he’s got all of this. Ripley asks why Carlito is hanging out in their clubhouse. Before Priest can explain, Mysterio walks up and asks for a moment. Ripley rips a rose up in his face. Mysterio says he’s been trying to reach her all week. She asks where he was the last three months she’s been injured. Was he too busy with his girlfriend? Ripley storms off. Carlito comes up and plays Captain Obvious by saying, “She’s angry, huh?”

-Commercial Break-

The commentators promote the limited edition cups at Bojangles.

Backstage Segment

WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn is walking backstage when his opponent for the evening, Ilja Dragunov, stops him. Dragunov appreciates getting a title opportunity, but he hopes it wasn’t because he helped him last week. Zayn says he asked Raw General Manager Adam Pearce for this. Zayn has been watching him for a while and says Dragunov is a special talent. Dragunov reminds Zayn of himself. When Dragunov is deep in the fight, his hair is messed up, his face is beet red, and there are welts on his body; he fights like his life depends on it. That’s the kind of person that deserves a chance at the title. Zayn warns Dragunov that he better bring his absolute best. Dragunov says, “You better do the same.” Dragunov walks off.

Video: “The Ring General” Gunther talks about dominating in NXT UK. When he was done with that brand, he came to SmackDown and quickly captured the Intercontinental Championship. Within two years, he was the greatest Intercontinental Champion in history. After that, he sought a new prize: King of the Ring. Gunther says titles didn’t used to mean much in WWE. He saw mediocrity and made it great. The titles lacked prestige. The World Heavyweight Championship is about to get some prestige.

Backstage Interview

Earlier today, Jackie Redmond interviewed Zelina Vega. Redmond asks how Rhea Ripley’s return impacts her chase at the Women’s World Championship. Vega says once the weird love triangle gets sorted out, she’ll go to the front of the line because she would be champion if not for “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio. Sonya Deville, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark walk up to her. Deville says the line to the front goes through them. Vega says she couldn’t hear anything past Deville’s forehead. Nothing will get in her way of getting to the title. Not Domink’s mustache or their mustaches. Vega challenges Deville to a match, which Deville accepts.

In the arena, Zelina Vega makes her entrance. She’ll face Sonya Deville next.

-Commercial Break-

Zelina Vega vs. Sonya Deville w/ Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark

Replay: Last week on Raw, Sonya Deville joined forces with Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark to take out Damage CTRL.

The bell rings, and Deville quickly shoves her to the corner. Deville catches Vega trying to slingshot over her, but Vega counters into a tornado DDT. Vega kicks her into the ropes and hits the 619. Shayna Baszler quickly grabs Vega’s arm and wedges it into the apron before kicking it. Zoey Stark was distracting the referee as this happened. Deville quickly hits Vega with the Advocate for the win.

Winner by Pinfall: Sonya Deville

Deville, Baszler, and Stark start to triple-team Vega before Kayden Carter, Katana Chance, and Lyra Valkyria run down for the save. Deville, Baszler, and Stark don’t back down. They casually leave the ring as Carter, Chance, and Valkyria check on Vega.

Backstage Segment

World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest is walking backstage when “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio runs up to him. Mysterio asks Priest why he didn’t tell him about Rhea Ripley last week. Priest says he tried, but Mysterio was too busy with Liv Morgan. Priest says he gave Mysterio advice, but Mysterio lied about communicating with Ripley and ending things with Morgan. “Main Event” Jey Uso walks up and asks if it’s true that Rhea Ripley is single and ready to mingle because he wants to hollaaaaaa. Priest chuckles and says, “Maybe.” Uso tells them to let Ripley know he says hi and walks off. Priest tells Mysterio he’s been in prison and can’t let Uso talk to him like that. Mysterio needs to show where Ripley belongs. Mysterio says he’s going to handle this. Priest laughs as he walks off.

-Commercial Break-

WWE Bad Blood is coming to the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, October 5. The presale starts tomorrow.

Raw General Manager’s Office

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce is talking to a pair of referees when Chad Gable barges in. Gable says he cracked the code and figured out that Uncle Howdy is Bo Dallas. Pearce makes a face as if that was super obvious. Gable knows Pearce met with Dallas last week and wants to know what disciplinary actions will be taken. Pearce says it’s privileged information, but Dallas is here tonight. If Gable wants to talk to Dallas, he can do it tonight. Gable says he’ll handle it himself. He’ll call Dallas out tonight. Gable walks off and says, “Pathetic.”

World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest and “The Ring General” Gunther go face-to-face

World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest makes his way to the ring. Priest gets a good ovation. Priest says, “Dayton, Ohio… all rise for El Campeon.” Priest says he’s out here because he has a match against Braun Strowman, but he knows what was advertised. Priest calls Gunther out for the face-to-face.

“The Ring General” Gunther makes his way to the ring. Gunther won the King of the Ring tournament to earn a shot against Priest for the title at SummerSlam. Gunther gets in the ring and says, “Ladies and gentlemen, the World Heavyweight Champion.” Gunther says Priest still looks confident as he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. Priest is carrying Monday Night Raw and living out his childhood dream of being World Heavyweight Champion. While Gunther was away, he paid close attention. Gunther will share his assessment and says Priest is not living up to it. Priest’s reign has been nothing. There’s no prestige or contributions. Gunther says they’re not cut from the same cloth. Gunther comes in good spirits and wants to do Priest a favor. He’ll lift the weight off Priest’s shoulders and spare him the embarrassment at SummerSlam. Gunther tells Priest to hand him his title and they can move on.

Priest says he wishes it was SummerSlam so he could knock that stupid smirk off his face. Priest mentions that this was never Gunther’s dream. While Gunther was getting everything handed to him, Priest was literally fighting for his life on the streets. Priest fought for 20 years to get here, not just win the World Title. If this isn’t Gunther’s dream, they don’t need him here. Priest knows Gunther is good, but Priest doesn’t give a damn. Priest earned this. Gunther is the last person to take this title from him.

Gunther says he recognizes Priest’s hardship and won’t question his street credibility, but being on the street is a choice. Don’t blame Gunther for Priest’s parents not teaching him how to have a good life. Gunther’s parents set him up for success. While Priest was fighting for his life on the streets, Gunther was getting calls from WWE, begging him to come to the company. They wanted to prevent people like Priest from getting into the position of the World Heavyweight Champion. Who other than Gunther can restore the honor and prestige of this great sport and the World Heavyweight Championship? Gunther doesn’t understand why all the people don’t love Priest to death. They’re just like Priest. No matter what they achieve in life, they’ll always be street trash. The crowd loudly boos.

Priest looks down in anger and repeats, “Street trash.” Priest says for someone who claims to have such clarity, it’s crazy that he doesn’t see what is coming at him. It’s the same reason Gunther lost the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. Gunther has no heart and doesn’t know what it’s like to fight for everything he has. At SummerSlam, he’ll remain El Campeon. For the first time in his life, Gunther will fight from the bottom because he has nothing. Then, maybe they’ll find out after SummerSlam if Gunther is something more than a boring, conceited, privileged scumbag. Gunther furiously gets in Priest’s face, but they don’t come to blows.

Braun Strowman makes his entrance. He’ll face Priest in a non-title match next.

-Commercial Break-

Backstage Segment

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce is backstage with “Main Event” Jey Uso. Pearce says Uso will be facing “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio tonight. Uso is pleased and walks off. Bron Breakker walks up to Pearce and is not happy that Ilja Dragunov is getting an Intercontinental Championship match. Pearce says Breakker lost at Money in the Bank. Sami Zayn asked for this match. Breakker says he has no respect for Pearce or Zayn. He’ll destroy everyone in the match. Pearce says he figured that would happen, so he calls for security. Breakker says he knows his way out and walks off. Pearce tells security to make sure Breakker leaves.

Sami Zayn will defend the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Ilja Dragunov later tonight.

Non-Title Match
World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest vs. Braun Strowman

The bell rings, and they lock up before Strowman shoves him away and poses. Priest ducks a clothesline and kicks Strowman. Strowman goes after him in the corner, but Priest sidesteps him and kicks away at him. Strowman puts the brakes on a whip and goes for a short-arm clothesline, but Priest ducks and kicks him in the head. Strowman quickly catches him, but Priest fights out. Priest kicks away at Strowman, but Strowman throws him across the ring. Strowman attacks the World Heavyweight Champion in the corner. Strowman whips him hard into the corner and shoulder tackles him. Strowman then gives him a clothesline over the top rope. Strowman signals for the express to start. Strowman gets out of the ring and charges Priest with the Strowman Express, but Priest sidesteps him and runs him into the barricade. Strowman goes over the barricade and lands in the timekeeper’s area, clutching his knee in pain.

-Commercial Break-

We come back from the break to see Priest working on Strowman’s injured knee. Strowman hobbles around the ring. Priest stuns him with a forearm to the face. Priest charges, but Strowman hits a pair of clotheslines. Strowman hobbles and avalanches him in the corner. Strowman clubs him in the chest for a two-count. Strowman slaps his injured knee to get some feeling back. Strowman waits for Priest to get up and goes for a chokeslam, but Priest goozles him as well. Strowman powers out and goes for a chokeslam, but Priest gets out and kicks him in the knee. Priest kicks him in the back of the head and the jaw. Priest then floors him with a spin kick. Priest charges, but Strowman counters with a Running Powerslam attempt. Strowman’s knee gives out before he can hit it. Priest avalanches him in the corner and connects with South of Heaven for the win. The crowd loudly counted with the referee.

Winner by Pinfall: World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest

“The Ring General” Gunther charges down to the ring and sneers at Priest. Gunther chops him, so Priest punches away at him in the corner. Gunther fights back with a chop, but Priest floors him with a clothesline. Gunther retreats, leaving a fired-up World Heavyweight Champion in the ring.

Backstage Segment

Otis, Akira Tozawa, and Maxxine Dupri are backstage. Dupri says they should help “him” out because he’s their friend. They agree. Chad Gable says it sounds like they finally came around. Tozawa doesn’t know what’s happening. Gable says he figured out who Uncle Howdy is. It’s Bo Dallas. Dupri says everyone knows that. Gable says he’s calling Dallas out and will have his crew by his side. Dupri says they weren’t talking about Gable. Xavier Woods walks up. Dupri says Tozawa and Otis want to stand with Woods against the Final Testament next week since Kofi Kingston will be gone. Gable is not happy. Otis says they’re serious. Gable angrily walks off.

Kayden Carter and Katana Chance make their way to the ring with Lyra Valkyria. They’ll be in action next.

-Commercial Break-

Video: Highlights from WWE’s tour of Mexico over the weekend. They announced that Stephanie Vaquer debuted there.

Tag Team Match
Kayden Carter and Katana Chance w/ Lyra Valkyria vs. Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark w/ Sonya Deville

Kayden Carter will start against Shayna Baszler. They lock up, and Baszler powers her to the corner. Baszler punches Carter down. Carter strikes back, but that only angers Baszler. They mistime something before Baszler takes her down for an arm stomp. Carter avoids it and kicks her. Katana Chance tags in, and they double-team Baszler with strikes for a one-count. Baszler gets Chance on her shoulders, and Zoey Stark blind tags in. Chance rolls Baszler up, but Stark kicks her in the back of the head for a two-count. Stark applies a chin lock.

Video: A short trailer for Twisters, coming on Friday.

Back to live action, Chance fights up and goes for a head-scissor, but Stark holds her up. Chance arm drags her into the corner and charges, but Stark shoves her off. Carter helps Chance hit a cross-body on Stark, but Stark catches her. Chance counters out and tags Carter in. Carter monkey flips Chance into Stark for a one-count. Carter throws Stark and Baszler out of the ring. They hit the Keg Stand out of the ring to the floor onto Baszler and Stark!

-Commercial Break-

We come back from the break to see Baszler lift Carter. Carter slides off and avoids a stomp before taking Baszler down and kicking her in the face. Stark tags in and stops Carter from making the tag. Carter kicks her away and tags Chance in.

Chance hits a facebuster and hits a head-scissor takeover. Chance kicks away at Stark in the corner and hits a corner clothesline. Chance hits a flipping leg drop for a two-count. Stark kicks Chance, and Baszler tags in to hit a knee for a near fall. Baszler goes for an armbar, but Chance fights out. Chance hits a standing moonsault and tags Carter in. Carter flips Chance onto Baszler for a near fall. Chance tags back in, and Sonya Deville gets on the apron. Lyra Valkyria stops Deville from interfering. Stark attacks Valkyria with a kick. Carter and Chance double-team Stark and roll Baszler up for a two-count. Stark quickly hits Chance with a springboard missile dropkick. Stark launches Chance into Baszler’s knee for the win.

Winners by Pinfall: Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark

Video: Pat McAfee breaks down The Miz’s appearance at the American Century Championship this past weekend. Miz celebrated with Jason and Travis Kelce.

The Judgment Day Clubhouse

World Tag Team Champions Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh are talking with Rhea Ripley. Bálor wants to address the elephant in the room and acknowledges that Liv Morgan helped them win their titles. Ripley is fine with it. Morgan played her games, and it didn’t work. At the end of the day, the Tag Titles are back where they belong. Soon, she’ll get her title back.

“Dirty” Dominik Mysterio walks up and says Jey Uso was talking out of line about her, so he got a match to teach him a lesson. She asks if he’s stupid and wants to know why he would pick a fight with Jey Uso. Mysterio says he’ll cancel the match. Ripley asks if he’s a coward. Mysterio says he wants to show that she’s still his Mami and she belongs to him. Ripley is stunned that Mysterio thinks she belongs to him and angrily walks off. Carlito comes up to Mysterio and says, “Dude… not cool.”

Backstage Segment

Drew McIntyre is walking backstage. We’ll hear from him next.

-Commercial Break-

Drew McIntyre returns after being suspended after Money in the Bank

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce is in the ring. Pearce introduces “The Scottish Warrior” Drew McIntyre to the ring. McIntyre comes out in a leather kilt and is smiling.

Replay: Drew McIntyre attacked a pair of referees and elbowed Raw General Manager Adam Pearce in the face in anger following Money in the Bank. McIntyre was subsequently suspended.

McIntyre gets in the ring, and a massive “CM Punk” chant fires up. Pearce says he doesn’t want to waste his time or McIntyre’s. Pearce thinks we’re on the verge of something special with McIntyre. Pearce thinks CM Punk versus Drew McIntyre could be special. Pearce wants the match and he thinks the crowd does, too. They roar in approval. Pearce says he knows Punk is at home like he requested, doing everything he can to get cleared. How much does McIntyre want this match? McIntyre says he wants this match more than anything in the world. Pearce says it could be special, so they need to leave the emotion, pettiness, and irrational and unprofessional behavior behind. If McIntyre can do that, Pearce is ready to do business. Pearce tells McIntyre to look at him when he’s talking to him.

McIntyre says he’s ready to do business. He understands that Pearce had to do what he had to do last week. Last week, he had to watch CM Punk and Seth Rollins in the ring from his couch, knowing he should have been in there. McIntyre and Punk want the match, but the only opinion that matters is the WWE Universe’s. McIntyre asks if they’re ready for him to face CM Punk at SummerSlam. The crowd loudly cheers and chants, “CM Punk.” McIntyre smiles and says they’re ready. McIntyre tells Pearce to make it official.

Pearce says he’d love nothing more than to do that, but McIntyre has to do one thing. McIntyre says, “Anything.” Pearce calls the two referees (Rod Zapata and Danilo Anfibio) that McIntyre hit at Money in the Bank into the ring. Pearce says what happened at Money in the Bank was uncalled for. They didn’t deserve that. Pearce tells McIntyre to apologize to the two referees. McIntyre asks why he would apologize. Pearce says the referees put their bodies on the line in the ring. They were disrespected. McIntyre says Pearce is trying to embarrass him. McIntyre tells Pearce to make the match. Pearce wants McIntyre to acknowledge that the referees got hurt and apologize for it. McIntyre is not happy. McIntyre slowly walks up to them. The crowd chants, “Say you’re sorry!” McIntyre puts his head down, takes a deep breath, and says, “No.” Why would he apologize to the referees? They’ve screwed him. As for Pearce, this has happened under his watch. Everything with Punk from WrestleMania to Scotland to Money in the Bank, he’s been screwed. Has Pearce interfered with CM Punk? No, it’s only McIntyre. Pearce deserved that elbow. Pearce should be apologizing to McIntyre. Everyone should be apologizing to McIntyre. McIntyre wants Punk’s head on a spike. Everyone is trying to screw him. Pearce says if McIntyre won’t accept responsibility, then he will. Pearce says, “You are still suspended!”

McIntyre squints his eyes at Pearce and furiously locks in on him. McIntyre pushes Rod Zapata and Danilo Anfibio down before getting in Pearce’s face.

“BURN IT DOWN!”

Seth “Freakin” Rollins runs down and starts brawling with McIntyre. Rollins superkicks McIntyre and goes for a Stomp, but McIntyre moves. Rollins dares McIntyre to get in the ring. Security runs down. The crowd loudly sings Rollins’ theme song. McIntyre shoves through the security and storms off.

Replay: The Wyatt Sicks interrupted “The Pat McAfee Show” earlier today. They delivered another VHS tape to him.

Video: Erick Rowan is shown seated in a chair. Uncle Howdy asks, “How have you been?” Rowan says the last few years have been very hard. Rowan used to have a family. They were unstoppable and inseparable. They always had each other’s backs. Then, one day, poof. The whole world changed. Rowan is emotional and says he lost a brother. He was the one person who believed in him. It knocked him on his ass. In those situations, you get up, wipe the dust off, and keep moving because that’s what you’ve gotta do. Life goes on. Just when he thought he had everything going, his other brother… Rowan begins to weep. His other brother was gone, too. Rowan had no more family or will. Rowan fell down a well and couldn’t get out. Why would he? He felt catatonic. He was numb to the world. Who is going to miss him? He’s just Rowan. Uncle Howdy asks, “How does that make you feel?” A sheep mask is handed to Rowan. Rowan says the mask gives him hope. When he was at his lowest, he reached out to him and pulled him up. Rowan accepted his hand because he needed help. Rowan got up and had a purpose to help those like himself. That mask reminds him of that beacon of hope. Rowan says, “We’re going to take broken hearts and make beautiful art.”