WWE Raw Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from August 21

WWE Raw Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from August 21

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Gunther and Chad Gable.WWE

Welcome to Bleacher Report’s live coverage and recap of WWE Raw on August 21 from Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

WWE is still setting up for the Payback pay-per-view on September 2, but that doesn’t mean we won’t get some big matches before then.

In fact, a highly anticipated bout took place this week when Gunther defended his Intercontinental Championship against Chade Gable.

We also saw The New Day take on Drew McIntyre and Matt Riddle for a future shot at the tag titles, and Shinsuke Nakamura revealed what exactly he said to Seth Rollins before attacking him last week.

Let’s take a look at what happened on this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw.

Opening Segment

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Sami Zayn opened the show to a raucous ovation from his countrymen north of the border. He didn’t say a single word for the first 10 minutes of the show because the crowd was chanting for long. After he finally welcomed us to the show, he was immediately interrupted by the entirety of Judgment Day.

They surrounded the ring and prepared to attack, but Kevin Owens made his return to make the save and help Zayn clear them out of the ring.

KO and Sami issued a challenge for a tag match later in the show, which Judgment Day accepted. This was a very simple segment, but the energy of the crowd is what made it all work.

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

The New Day vs. Matt Riddle and Drew Mcintyre

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The first match on this week’s show saw Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston back in action for the first time in several weeks taking on Riddle and McIntyre for a shot at the tag titles.

Woods and Riddle started the match. The KOTR winner mocked The Bor for not being a real tag team as he and Kingston cornered him for a double-team spot.

Riddle was never able to tag in McIntyre because Erik from The Viking Raiders pulled him off the apron. This allowed New Day to pick up the win, but they were all attacked by Erik and Ivar right away.

Honestly, this match was fine but not as good as it could have been. Not allowing McIntyre to get physical until after the match felt like a mistake, and the way it all ended was a little cheap. This might start a new feud with Riddle and McIntyre against The Viking Raiders, but it would have been nice to get more action and a clean finish.

Winners: The New Day

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

Gunther vs. Chad Gable (IC Title)

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WWE played a couple of promo videos from Gable and Gunther before they came to the ring for their Intercontinental Championship match. Both men came to the ring by themselves so it was a fair fight.

The crowd chanted for Gable as they locked up and Gunther backed him to the corner. The Olympian countered and hit a quick chop to show Gunther he wasn’t intimidated. The Ring General made him regret that by slamming him with one arm.

The champ continued to dominate him through the break and into the next segment. Gunther put him through the wringer with stiff strikes and suplexes, but Gable kept showing signs of life.

Everybody expected this to be a great match, and Gunther and Gable did not disappoint. They worked incredibly well together to tell a great David vs. Goliath story.

After throwing him into the timekeeper’s area, Gable beat the count back into the ring to get the win, but since this was a countout, he did not win the title. Gunther lost it at ringside as Gable celebrated being the first person to beat Gunther in a singles match on the main roster.

This was a perfect way to keep the belt on Gunther while giving Gable a win and setting him up to be the man who eventually beats him for the belt.

Winner: Chad Gable

Grade: A

Notable Moments and Observations