The road to WWE SummerSlam 2023 continues tonight.
WWE RAW returns from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA. tonight at 8/7c on USA Network.
On tap for tonight’s show is the return of Brock Lesnar, Alpha Academy vs. The Viking Raiders in a “Viking Rules Match,” Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. The Judgment Day, Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville for the Undisputed WWE Women’s Tag-Team Championships, as well as GUNTHER vs. Matt Riddle.
Featured below are complete WWE RAW results from Monday, July 17, 2023 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA. The following report was written by PWMania.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live on the USA Network from 8-11pm EST.
WWE RAW RESULTS (7/17/2023)
The “WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.” signature airs narrated by John Cena. We then shoot inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA. where Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves welcome us to the show.
Cody Rhodes Kicks Off This Week’s Show
We hear the commentary duo of Patrick and Graves run down the advertised lineup for tonight’s show. The crowd reacts as each match and segment graphic flashes across the screen. We then head to the ring for our opening segment.
Cody Rhodes’ theme hits and the Atlanta crowd pops as fireworks explode and “The American Nightmare” emerges. The crowd sings along with his entrance tune as he makes his way to the ring.
The commentators welcome Rhodes home to the A-T-L, along with the fired up crowd of several thousand members of the WWE Universe in the background. His music finally cuts off and the “Cody!” chants fire up. They turn to “Welcome home!” chants.
Rhodes begins, “So, Atlanta, what do you wanna talk about?” He then gets right to the point and mentions he hopes Brock Lesnar comes to the ring to accept his challenge for a match at SummerSlam. The crowd pops and Cody says you heard them, come out here right now!
After a delay, Cody questions why if Lesnar is here tonight, why isn’t he coming out. He asks if Brock is trying to be fashionably late. He says if Brock shows up at 9 o’clock, guess who will show up in this ring and wait for him. He says the same thing happens if Brock shows up at 10 or at the very end of the night.
“The American Nightmare” gets emotional and says this is the house that built Cody. He then points out his mom, Michelle Rhodes, sitting in the front row. He talks about how his mother is the one who made him the fighter he is today.
He continues and says the only two words he can think of when he thinks of his relationship with Brock Lesnar is, “Hard Times,” obviously referencing the legendary promo from his father, Dusty Rhodes. He says it won’t be hard times in his home town tonight. He tells the fans to enjoy tonight’s show and walks off.
Brock Lesnar Is In The Building
Cody heads over and hugs his mom and family in the front row in an emotional close to the opening segment. As he goes to walk to the back, the theme for Brock Lesnar hits. Cody stops and waits but nothing happens.
He continues walking again but the theme then turns back on. As Cody finally heads through to the back, we hear some noise and then we see Cody launched back out onto the stage. Brock comes out after him with a steel chair beating him down.
Lesnar beats Cody down to ringside right in front of his mom and family. He proceeds to hit a big F-5 right in front of them. He stands up and smirks at them as Cody rolls around in pain. He drops down and slaps a kimura on him and yanks back on it. He stands up and gets in Cody’s mom’s face.
Now we see Brock roll Cody into the ring where he re-applies the kimura lock to an already beaten down Cody. He stands up and glares down at him and yells off-mic, “Challenge accepted. I’ll see you at SummerSlam, bitch!” We head to a commercial break. When we return from the break, we see footage of Lesnar blasting Cody with a chair during the commercials.
GUNTHER vs. Matt Riddle
We head back inside State Farm Arena where the familiar sounds of Matt Riddle’s theme hits. Out comes “The Original BRO” to loud chants of “BRO! BRO! BRO!” from the A-Town crowd.
Riddle settles in the ring and then his music fades down. Imperium’s theme hits and out comes WWE Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER for this non-title showdown, where Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci are banned from ringside.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see GUNTHER blasting Riddle with vicious chops right out of the gate. Riddle hits a flying triangle and then two flip-flop over the top-rope and crash and burn on the floor.
Out on the floor, GUNTHER blasts Riddle with a chop as he comes leaping off the ropes. As Riddle rolls in pain on the floor at ringside, we shift gears and head to a mid-match commercial break as the action continues.
When we return from the break, we see GUNTHER still in control of the offense, however Riddle starts blasting him with various kicks. GUNTHER takes the kicks and hits a big release German suplex for a close pin attempt. He follows up with some mean lariats.
Riddle hits a Rip Cord to shift the offensive momentum back in his favor. He hits a follow-up running knee for a close near fall attempt of his own. Riddle goes for the Floating Bro but GUNTHER gets his knees up. He hits a tyranesaurus suplex and then a power bomb for the win.
Winner: GUNTHER
Rhea Ripley Brawls With Undisputed WWE Women’s Tag Champs
We shoot backstage where Jackie Redmond is standing by with the Undisputed WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champions. They talk about their title defense against Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green tonight and how they’re not afraid of anyone.
Rhea Ripley appears and asks if that includes her. Liv Morgan says she doesn’t know how many times she has to tell her. Before she can say anything else, Ripley headbutts her in the face and down she goes.
Raquel Rodriguez reacts by brawling with Ripley until a ton of officials and security members rush over to break things up.
The Judgment Day Aren’t Breaking Up, They’re Dominating
Now we head back inside State Farm Arena where the lights go down and then the familiar sounds of The Judgment Day theme song hits. Out comes Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley. We head to a commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see The Viking Raiders and Valhalla backstage with an Alpha Academy shirt in their hands. The commentators hype the Viking Rules match for later tonight.
Back live inside the ring, we see The Judgment Day. Rhea Ripley laughs off anyone who thought they were going to break up after seeing issues with Balor and Priest in recent weeks. They claim now that they’re back in good graces, they not only run Raw, they dominate it.
She says she is unbeatable as women’s champion, Balor and Priest will soon have titles and tomorrow night, Dominik Mysterio will win the NXT North American Championship. “Dirty” Dom goes to speak, but is loudly drowned out by boos. Priest says they get it but all the boos don’t change the fact that tomorrow night, Dom wins the NXT North American title.
Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens Confront The Judgment Day
As they continue talking, the theme for Sami Zayn hits the interrupt them. Out comes Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. The Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions mock Dom and then talk about their match against Finn Balor and Damian Priest tonight.
Priest says they sound cocky. If they are confident in themselves, they should put their titles on the line tonight. Zayn says he feels like he should let his partner weigh in on this. He gives him permission to lose his cool. The fans chant “K-O! K-O!” He loses his cool and says he doesn’t care as long as he gets to punch faces. The titles are now on the line tonight.
Raquel Rodriguez Is Hurt, But Will Compete Anyways
We shoot to the medics room backstage after seeing footage of Ripley’s attack on Rodriguez and Morgan earlier tonight. Adam Pearce is with the medics, who explain that Rodriguez has been injured but she agrees to compete anyways. That match is next. We head to another commercial.
WWE Women’s Tag-Team Championships
Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan (C) vs. Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green
As we settle back in from the break, we see Alpha Academy and Maxxine Dupri backstage getting warmed up for their Viking Rules match later tonight. Back in the arena, Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green make their way out for our next match of the evening.
The challengers settle in the ring and then the theme for the reigning, defending Undisputed WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champions hits and out comes Raquel Rodriguez, still selling her leg injury from the Ripley attack. Liv Morgan comes out with her and the champs head to the ring for this scheduled title defense.
Now the bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our first of two scheduled title matches for tonight’s show. As the action gets started, we head directly into a commercial break at the start of the contest.
When we return from the break, we see Morgan and Deville kicking things off for their respective teams. Deville immediately hits a pump kick that decks Morgan. She tags in Green and the two hit a big double suplex on Morgan. Green continues to take it to Morgan as Deville settles on the apron.
Deville tags back in and picks up where Green left off, taking it to Morgan and putting the boots to her in the corner. Morgan finally makes the tag to Rodriguez, who fights the challengers off with one leg. She tags Morgan back in, who hits the Oblivion for a close near fall on Green, which Deville breaks up.
Green fights back in the offensive lead, taking it to Liv and hitting her Unpretty-Her finisher for a close near fall attempt of her own. Green hits a second one and Deville follows up with a flying knee for the win. We have new champs.
Winners and NEW WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champions: Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green
Finn Balor Crashes Seth Rollins’ Sit-Down Interview
The commentators confirm the rubber match between Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar for WWE SummerSlam 2023 in Detroit, MI. for next month. The official match graphic flashes across the screen.
Now we shoot to a lengthy video package looking back at what went down within The Bloodline saga from WWE Friday Night SmackDown.
From there, we shoot to Byron Saxton’s sit-down interview with Seth “Freakin'” Rollins. The WWE World Heavyweight Champion talks about his title defense plans for SummerSlam.
Finn Balor ends up crashing the interview. Saxton walks off as Balor takes a seat in front of Rollins. Balor says he wants his rematch. He tells him to talk to Adam Pearce and make it happen. Rollins says he understands where Balor is coming from, but you’ve got to stop living in the past.
Rollins tells Balor the title is bigger than the both of them. Rollins tells Balor if he wants to settle the score, they don’t need a match for that. He tells him to take his shot, or get out of his face. Balor says cool and walks off. Rollins apologizes to the crew and goes to take his mic off when Balor comes back in and attacks him with a chair. He leaves him laying and tells him to make the match.
Viking Rules Match
Alpha Academy vs. The Viking Raiders
An ominous theme plays as we settle back inside State Farm Arena. The commentators hype the no-rules Viking Rules match coming up next. We hear “SHOOSH!” and then the theme for Alpha Academy plays.
Chad Gable, Otis and Maxxine Dupri make their way out and head down to the ring to a big pop from the Atlanta crowd. As they settle inside the squared circle for our next match of the evening, we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, WWE Global Ambassador Titus O’Neil joins Patrick and Graves at ringside for special guest commentary. The ring is decked out with flags and shields and other stuff for this special Viking Rules match.
Now the horn / siren sounds to bring out The Viking Raiders duo of Erik and Ivar, accompanied by Valhalla. They head to the ring and settle inside and it’s tine for our VIking Rules showdown here on Monday Night Raw in Atlanta, GA.
The commentators point out Valhalla holding onto the letterman jacket that belongs to Maxxine from last week. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this special rules contest. Gable attacks Erik and Ivar and Maxxine joins him in beating down Valhalla.
Otis and Ivar just hit a big suplex off the long boat set up at ringside. Gable gets Erik in an ankle lock on the same structure. Gable launches himself onto Ivar on the floor. He goes for a cover on the floor but Ivar kicks out. Gable slams Erik into a big shield on the ring apron. Otis does the “D-Von get the tables!” spot with Gable for a big pop. Out comes a table.
Back in the ring, we see Erik springboard off the ropes looking to splash on Gable, however Otis catches him and power slams him down. He stands up and tears his shirt off as Gable grabs his beard and the two pose for the pumped up Atlanta crowd. We head to a mid-match commercial break on that note.
As we settle back in from the break, we see Erik hit a moonsault on Otis for a near fall, which is broken up when Gable follows up with a moonsault of his own. He then muscles him up for a crazy German suplex into a bridge for a close pin attempt. Gable hits a diving head butt but Valhalla breaks up the pin attempt. Maxxine hits a top-rope splash to take her out.
Gable gets Maxxine’s letterman jacket back and puts it on her. She yells “THANK YOU!” but then Valhalla spears her through a table in the corner. Gable is smashed through a pair of metal shields. Otis then turns with the angry face and back elbows Erik, rolls and clotheslines Ivar. He then slams both of them and hits a chokeslam / Rock Bottom type spot before hitting his Catapillar / Worm spot.
Otis heads to the top rope but Valhalla gets in a cheap shot. The Viking Raiders then hit a double power bomb on Otis off the top-rope for the win.
Winners: The Viking Raiders
Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross
We head back inside the arena as the theme for Shayna Baszler plays. “The Submission Magician” makes her way out and stops half-way down the ramp to pull her hoodie down. As she continues her way to the ring, we shoot to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see Nikki Cross sprinting down to the ring. She settles inside and her music dies down.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one-on-one women’s showdown. Immediately we see Baszler beat down and choke out Cross literally within seconds for the easy squash match victory.
Winner: Shayna Baszler
Ronda Rousey Challenges Shayna Baszler To SummerSlam Showdown
“And the crowd goes mild!” Ronda Rousey says, as she tells Baszler to look up above her, figuratively, literally and every other way. She taunts Baszler over struggling to get a spot in WWE, while she easily made it and succeeded in the company, the same way things went for both of them in MMA.
Rousey calls Baszler a cheap knock off of her in MMA and WWE. Baszler says it’s easy to do all that talk up there. Baszler says when it comes to WWE, she’s a better Ronda Rousey than her. She tells her to waddle her heavy ass down here and they can settle it tonight.
“Rowdy” Ronda sits down and puts her feet up and says nah, unless you want to make mer. Baszler goes to do that but security stops her. Rousey tells Baszler she’s gonna do her a favor and finally get her booked on SummerSlam. She tells her “I’ll see you in motor city, bitch.”
Ricochet Challenges Logan Paul To Meet Him Next Week
Now we shoot backstage where we see Jackie Redmond with Ricochet. She asks him about his interaction with Logan Paul on last week’s show. Ricochet says Logan Paul doesn’t get it. He thinks he’s a joke and in Logan’s own social media world, everyone is a joke to him.
He says the people aren’t here in State Farm Arena because they post on Instagram. He says in WWE, Logan is the real joke. Ricochet challenges him to meet him on Monday Night Raw in Tampa, FL. next week. He vows to hurt his ego.
Miz TV With Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus & Zoey Stark
We see Becky Lynch walking the hallways backstage at State Farm Arena. Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves plug her appearing on Miz TV when we return. On that note, we head to another commercial break.
When we return, we see The Miz boasting beating Tommaso Ciampa on last week’s show. He then brings up competing in the American Champion Century golf tournament with Charles Barkley, Patrick Mahomes, Pat McAfee and others.
Now he gets down to business and introduces his guest for this week’s special edition of Miz TV, none other than Becky Lynch. With that said, the theme for “The Man” plays and out she comes.
Lynch sits next to Miz on the set of his talk show in the ring. Miz brings up Lynch losing to Trish Stratus, losing at Women’s Money In The Bank and then losing to Zoey Stark last week. Miz asks if Lynch has lost a step.
She gets up and throws her chair out of the ring. She gets in Miz’s face and yells at him about how she has lost a lot of things, including her mind, but not a step. She says she knows he’s gonna bring out Trish Stratus so go ahead and do it before he loses his tiny balls.
Miz tells Lynch that was a bit much. He tells her she ruined the surprise and then introduces Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark. Trish’s theme plays and out she comes wearing the face protector with Stark by her side. Lynch yells at Trish for her rematch. Trish tells her to settle down.
Trish brings up Becky’s daughters name and Lynch warns her to keep her name out of her mouth. Trish asks why is Lynch so obsessed with her. She says they already both fought her and beat her. Lynch wants another fight with Trish. Trish says she must first go through Stark. Lynch says done.
Trish says she must also thank her and get thank you Trish tattooed on her chest. A brawl breaks out among the three. Lynch knocks the face protector off Trish and blasts her in the nose before beating down Stark and standing tall to end the segment.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bronson Reed
We see highlights of the segment with Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes from earlier in the show and then the commentary duo of Patrick and Graves plug their trilogy bout for the upcoming WWE SummerSlam 2023 premium live event next month in Detroit, MI.
From there, we shoot back inside State Farm Arena where we hear the familiar sounds of the rock violins, as Shinsuke Nakamura emerges. “The King of Strong Style” heads to the ring for our next scheduled match of the evening.
As the Japanese legend settles inside the squared circle, we shoot to a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return from the break, Bronson Reed makes his way out and heads to the ring.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see Reed and Nakamura duking it out and after several minutes of back-and-forth action, we see Nakamura nearly finishing Reed off, when Tommaso Ciampa interferes.
Ciampa’s interference leads to Nakamura losing via disqualification. After the match, Nakamura decks Ciampa and walks off.
Winner via DQ: Bronson Reed
Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Championships
Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens (C) vs. Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio
We see Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens talking with each other backstage as they get ready for their title defense in our main event of the evening, which is up next. On that note, we head to another commercial break.
When we return, we see highlights of what transpired between Nakamura and Ciampa at the closing moments of his match with Reed moments ago. He is shown backstage and says he’s tired of people getting in his business.
Now we return inside State Farm Arena where the familiar sounds of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens’ theme hits and the crowd goes bonkers. The Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions make their way out and settle in the ring.
The theme for The Judgment Day plays and out comes Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio accompanied by Finn Balor and Rhea Ripley. In the ring, both teams are formally introduced for this championship main event contest.
Before the bell sounds, we see WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth “Freakin'” Rollins appear out of nowhere to take out Finn Balor to get revenge for him ambushing him during his sit-down interview with Byron Saxton earlier in the show.
In the ring, the bell sounds to get this one officially off-and-running. We see Sami Zayn and Damian Priest kick things off for their respective teams. Zayn gets the early jump on Priest, but Priest ends up blasting him with one chop that shifts the offensive momentum in his team’s favor.
Priest establishes the offensive control over Zayn and then tags in “Dirty” Dom. The fans go wild with boos as Dom-Dom hits the ring to follow up on the momentum built by Priest. Zayn immediately takes back over and beats down Dom. He tags in Owens, who hits a big senton and then takes over, beating down Dom as Rhea Ripley is shown watching on in horror at ringside.
The Judgment Day takes back over. We see Priest hitting choke slams on the hard part of the apron and see Rhea Ripley smiling with pure glee as we head to a mid-match commercial break as the action continues in our championship main event of the evening here in Atlanta, GA.
When we return from the break, we see back-and-forth action and then Zayn and Owens start hitting trademark spots and high spots for close near fall after close near fall. The crowd goes wild anticipating the finish in this one, but The Judgment Day avoids being put away for good, keeping their championship hopes alive.
Dom-Dom hits a hurricanrana on Zayn off the top-rope for a close near fall, but Sami kicks out. Rhea Ripley is shown freaking out at ringside as this one is still going and now Zayn is fighting back. Zayn knocks Dom out to the floor and then follows up with a big splash from the ring to the floor. Ripley is shown running Owens into the steel steps.
She also chokes Zayn over the top-rope with a stun gun. Dom quickly rolls Zayn up off of that but Zayn kicks out. Liv Morgan runs out and starts duking it out with Ripley, ramming her into the barricade and clotheslining her over it. Zayn hits an exploder on Dom in the corner. He hits his Helluva Kick in the corner as Owens hits a Stunner on Priest. 1-2-3. Zayn and Owens retain. That’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
Winners and STILL Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens
