GUNTHER vs. Chad Gable for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
WWE Raw advertised GUNTHER vs. Chad Gable as GUNTHER inches toward history as the longest-reigning Intercontinental champion of all time. Raw also advertised The New Day vs. the Glasbros (Drew McIntyre and Matt Riddle) and Shinsuke Nakamura revealing what he whispered to Seth Rollins last week on Raw.
Last week’s broadcast of WWE Raw garnered 1.757 million viewers.
WWE Raw Results on August 21, 2023
- The New Day def. Riddle and McIntyre
- Chad Gable def. GUNTHER by Countout | Intercontinental Championship
- Rhea Ripley def. Candice LeRae
- Akira Tozawa def. The Miz
- Green and Niven def. Chance and Carter
WWE Raw Ratings
- August 14, 2023 | 1.757 million
- August 7, 2023 | 1.890 million
- July 31, 2023 | 1.759 million
- July 24, 2023 | 1.818 million
- July 17, 2023 | 1.88 million
WWE Raw Ticket Sales
- WWE Raw Venue: Centre Videotron (Quebec, QC)
- WWE Raw Tickets Distributed: 10,583
- WWE Raw Tickets Available: 305
CM Punk Runs AEW (Pro Wrestling Bits)
WWE Raw Winners And Grades
Sami Zayn And Kevin Owens Open Raw
Sami Zayn had an uninterrupted ovation that went for at least five minutes.
Rhea Ripley has a great new t-shirt that reads “Monday Night Mami.”
Zayn welcomed Quebec City to Raw in French, to a huge pop. Kevin Owens returned to back Zayn up against the Judgment Day (sans JD McDonagh), and Owens cut a French promo of his own to a loud pop.
WWE Raw Opening Segment Grade: B+
The New Day Def. Riddle and McIntyre
Matt Riddle received a tepid response, which is what happens when you lose clean for weeks on end.
Fans popped huge when Drew McIntyre tagged in as his seemingly inevitable heel turn looms.
Fans really got into Riddle’s offense as The New Day worked the match as the de facto heels.
The Viking Raiders interrupted, leading to Riddle taking another loss, but McIntyre chased them off. It looks like the Glasbros are going to be a thing for the time being.
The New Day vs. Riddle and McIntyre Grade: B-
Chad Gable Def. GUNTHER By Countout
JD was once again shut out of Judgment Day business, this time by Rhea Ripley.
GUNTHER is 18 days away from breaking the Honky Tonk Man’s record, so it’s almost impossible to imagine Gable will shock the world tonight. Having said that, this crowd was massively behind Gable.
Michael Cole gave a well-timed shoutout to the first-ever IC champion Pat Patterson.
I don’t know how they did it, but this match was filled with drama, and the crowd ate it up as if Gable had a chance to win the strap.
Gable took the fight to GUNTHER, and ultimately won the match via countout with a German suplex over a barricade. Gable became the first WWE Superstar to beat GUNTHER in a singles match. I wouldn’t be opposed to this chase extending past GUNTHER breaking the record, only for Gable to win the title the day after.
GUNTHER vs. Gable Grade: A-
Cody Rhodes Promo
Cody Rhodes compared JD McDonagh to a Funko Pop given his big head and small body.
Rhodes decided to walk out to the arena instead of cutting a backstage promo, and fans immediately began chanting for him.
After name-dropping the “JBL and Cole Show,” Cody Rhodes also shouted out Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to further get in the good graces the Quebec crowd.
This promo really seemed like an excuse to get Rhodes on television.
Cody Rhodes Promo Grade: B
Rhea Ripley Def. Candice LeRae
Wade Barrett began making excuses for Candice LeRae just as the bell rang, claiming LeRae had not been competing against top-level competition of late.
LeRae got a flurry of offense in before being submitted by an inverted cloverleaf.
Raquel Rodrigues limped out to the ring. Given the fact that she should be close to getting cleared, Ripley should have known it was a rouse, which it was.
Raquel Rodriguez declared herself medically cleared, and confirmed it was going to be Ripley vs. Rodriguez at Payback. If Rodriguez really did require a crutch this week, her injury may have been healing slower than Roderick Strong.
Shinsuke Nakamura revealed that he whispered to Rollins “I know about your back.” Rollins later confirmed that he has been living with two fractures in his lumbar spine for the past four years.
Ripley vs. LeRae Grade: C
Akira Tozawa Def. The Miz
Fans wanted to see Maryse (who is from Montreal) but Miz immediately shut it down.
WWE’s passive-aggressive smear campaign on LA Knight continued, this time with Miz calling Knight the Hoobastank of WWE.
Knight’s reaction was as big as ever in Quebec City. Knight joined Michael Cole and Wade Barrett on commentary, but not before showering Miz with tissue paper.
Given how much Miz hyped up Tozawa—a hand-selected opponent whom Miz chose because he was beatable—Miz losing was the most likely outcome.
Miz continued to taunt Knight by comparing him to MySpace and Beanie Babies.
Tozawa vs. Miz went through a commercial break, which boded well for Tozawa.
Miz lost clean to Tozawa. Knight didn’t even interfere. So this is a feud between WWE Superstars who can’t seem to pick up a win of late.
Miz vs. Tozawa Grade: B-
Trish Stratus and Becky Lynch Face Off
Becky Lynch was treated like the Canadian hero over Trish Stratus during this exchange.
Fans gave Trish Stratus a warm reception, even thanking her, until she turned heel on them. From there, fans were all over Trish throughout her promo, especially when she took a shot at Justin Trudeau.
Fans interrupted Trish with several French-language chants that nobody seemed to understand.
Trish-Becky Segment Grade: C+
Green And Niven Def. Chance And Carter
The story of this match was Chelsea Green being the clear weak link while Piper Niven bulldozed through Chance and Carter for the win. After figuratively carrying Green through the match, Niven carried Green to the back herself.
Green and Niven vs. Chance and Carter Grade: C
