Every Match Ranked & Reviewed

On the road to the first ever Sunday Night’s Main Event, WWE headed to the Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio for the August 31 edition of Monday Night RAW. The show featured the finals of the luchadors contenders tournament between brothers Penta & Rey Fenix, a clash for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship between Raquel Rodriguez & Sol Ruca, and more!

TheSportster’s rating system will take a look across every match on the latest edition of WWE’s red brand to determine the best match of the night, the weakest showcase on the card, and how everything else stacked up in between across the show.

5

Raquel Rodriguez Vs. Sol Ruca (Women’s Intercontinental Championship)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 5.75/10

In the opening match of Monday Night RAW, Sol Ruca sought to win back the Intercontinental Championship that she lost a few weeks back to Raquel Rodriguez in a rematch. The match was initially interrupted and delayed due to Jacob Fatu arriving to trash the ringside area, which did distract from the importance of this contest. Ruca showed some early fire, displaying some of her impressive agility and unique style, but Rodriguez used her power to take control of the matchup.

Ruca worked from below to try and get herself back in the match, eventually hitting a Sunset Flip powerbomb to the outside. The Judgment Day soon ran out to get involved, with Ruca fighting off all three women, but it was Lyra Valkyria’s involvement which proved to be the decision-maker, attacking Ruca with the referee’s back turned, allowing Rodriguez to nail her finisher and win a basic, fine, but lifeless match that failed to get going.

4

Je’Von Evans Vs. Dominik Mysterio

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 6/10

Following on from him getting decimated by Big Cass last week, Je’Von Evans looked to try and regain some momentum against Judgment Day’s Dominik Mysterio, who has also suffered losses in recent weeks. Mysterio took a cheap shot before the match began, but Evans showed no signs of weakness as he dished out his now signature “bouncy” offense in the early stages. JD McDonagh’s presence at ringside proved to be a consistently annoying factor, helping Mysterio to slow down Evans.

The babyface fought his way back into the match at every turn, but just as his momentum was building, McDonagh attacked Evans to cause a DQ, halting what was progressing into a good match and ruining it.

3

Judgment Day Vs. Je’Von Evans & Joe Hendry

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 6.5/10

This impromptu tag team match began after the initial singles match between Je’Von Evans and Dominik Mysterio was ruled out, with Joe Hendry returning to RAW to take Evans from an attack. The chaos at the end of the previous match ensured that this had a hot start, kicking off with Evans hitting a massive dive into the timekeeper’s area.

The action soon slowed down into a more conventional tag team matchup, taking some pace and momentum out of the contest, though the crowd still showed plenty of love for the babyfaces. After a period of heelish dominance, Hendry entered the ring for a fun hot tag, even hitting a double Fallaway Slam and diving to the outside. Everything about this whole segment and match pointed towards a babyface win, but it was the heels who stood tall, with Evans thrown into the ring post and Mysterio nailing a splash on Hendry to escape with a win.

2

Dragon Lee Vs. Ethan Page (Intercontinental Championship Number One Contender)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 7/10

After reigning Intercontinental Champion Chad Gable looked ahead to his next challenge, an impromptu match was set up in which Dragon Lee and Ethan Page battled it out to determine his next challenger at RAW in Mexico. It had a steady start, kicking into gear when Lee hit a big dive to the outside before both men went back-and-forth for several minutes, trading momentum. Page turned the tide by using the apron cover to take Lee off his feet, before hitting a swinging neckbreaker on the outside.

Lee soon fought his way back into the bout, executing some reversals (which were slightly sloppily done), as the crowd got more into the contest. Page eventually threw Lee into Gable at ringside, with the champion attempting to get involved, allowing Page to send Lee into an exposed turnbuckle… only for the referee to notice and refuse the count. This confusion allowed Lee to hit the Operation Dragon to stand tall in what was a fun and different finish to a decent match.

1

Penta Vs. Rey Fenix (World Heavyweight Championship Number One Contender)

Overall Rating From TheSportster: 8.5/10

These two brothers met in a WWE ring for the first time ever in the main event of Monday Night RAW, battling for the right to face Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship, seeking to find the magic from the matches they have had elsewhere in the likes of AEW. The pacing was electric from the opening bell, with the two trading fast lucha libre style offense, displaying their natural chemistry. There were some disjointed moments here and there in the middle portion of the bout, but things heated up upon some flashy and stiff exchanges and a wild pop-up powerbomb and Fenix landing on his feet from a top rope Mexican Destroyer attempt.

The match continued with a hotter crowd, finishers, near-falls, and more as things progressed more into the “big fight feel” category. Penta would hit a massive Penta Driver through the announce table, before Fenix baited his brother in for a very close near-fall after an emotional face-off, but in the end a Mexican Destroyer secured Penta’s win in a fun match that started off with a mixed bag of action but ended with several thrilling minutes.