WWE Raw Results 1/8 – Lesnar return met with an RKO warning

How do you top off last week’s enthralling start to a new era for Monday Night Raw? Enter Brock Lesnar, who made his long-awaited return to WWE last night only to feel the full force of his SummerSlam opponent. 

WWE saved Lesnar’s comeback - his first appearance on WWE TV since WrestleMania - for the close of the show. With Paul Heyman leading the charge, he introduced his client as the beast of the ‘Brocktagon’, the ruler and conqueror of the WWE Universe and the Viper Slayer, as Brock made his way to the ring amid chants of ‘Suplex City’. Heyman then continued to build-up Brock’s meeting with Randy Orton at SummerSlam, put over the RKO and questioned how many times Orton has heard those voices in his head say Lesnar will kick his ass and drag him to Suplex City. This led to Orton appearing out of nowhere to hit his SummerSlam opponent with an RKO before scuttling out the ring and through the crowd. Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley tried to remove the SmackDown Superstar, but the show went off air with Orton posing amongst the WWE universe with a wounded but grinning Lesnar looking on.

The chaotic ending to Raw came off the back of a show that built on last week’s two major headlines. Finn Bàlor was introduced to the Raw crowd, fresh off the back of his memorable main roster debut that saw him earn a battle with Seth Rollins at SummerSlam for the Universal Championship. Bàlor said he knew he had to make an impact when he arrived on Raw, but before he could say anymore was interrupted by his pay-per-view opponent. 

Rollins took to the mike and reminded Finn that although his achievements are impressive he’s looking at ‘The Man’ and someone who has already been NXT Champion, was the number one draft pick and beaten Roman Reigns; calling Bàlor just a bad movie remake of himself. After a further verbal back and fourth, Rollins tried to cheap shot Finn, but was caught with a kick to the face by the ‘Demon’ and so bailed out the ring clutching his face. Later in the night, Rollins was back at ringside when he defeated Sami Zayn in an entertaining encounter between the two former NXT champions.

Also making headlines last week was Sasha Banks as she was crowned the new WWE Women’s Champion by defeating Charlotte, and the new champ kicked off the show with a promo thanking the fans. ‘The Boss’ was quickly interrupted by Charlotte who called Banks just a one night stand, which Sasha retorted with the killer line of the night, quipping that if it weren’t for one night stands, as the daughter of Ric Flair Charlotte probably wouldn’t be standing here right now.

This brought out Chris Jericho to support his ‘friend’ Charlotte and the pair put down the champion before Enzo Amore came to her aid. The pair traded ‘How you Doin’s' with each, until Enzo turned his witty attention to Y2J. The sparring quartet was then put in a mixed tag-team bout by Mick Foley, which Charlotte and Jericho won thanks to a distraction from Dana Brooke. More interestingly Kevin Owens was on commentary for the match, and later in the evening pledged his allegiance towards Jericho in his battle with Enzo and Big Cass.

Freshly married Rusev was in action on Raw, defending his US Title against a fired-up Mark Henry, who had earlier in the night requested a chance from Foley and Stephanie. The WWE’s Olympic ambassador put up a good fight, but the supreme athlete once again retained is title and then questioned post-match if any American could beat him. This brought out Roman Reigns for a stare down with the US champ, before the pair traded blows and Reigns cleared the ring of the Bulgarian brute.

Elsewhere Braun Strowman destroyed another local talent who was getting paid £1000 to be in the ring with the monster, The New Day made quick work of Gallows and Anderson but paid for it with a post match beat down and Jinder Mahal returned to Raw after double-crossing Heath Slater upon their invasion of Raw as free agents.

Full Results for 1 August Raw show;

Chris Jericho and Charlotte defeated Enzo Amore and Sasha Banks

Braun Strowman defeated Evan Anderhold

The Shining Stars defeated Golden Truth

Rusev defeated Mark Henry to retain the WWE US Championship

Titus O’Neil defeated Darren Young w/ Bob Backlund

Nia Jax defeated Ariel Monroe

Kofi Kingston and Big E defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson

Cesaro defeated Sheamus

Jinder Mahal defeated Heath Slater to win a spot on the RAW roster

Seth Rollins defeated Sami Zayn

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