{"id":102821,"date":"2020-08-17T11:29:46","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T16:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=102821"},"modified":"2020-08-17T11:29:46","modified_gmt":"2020-08-17T16:29:46","slug":"wwe-monday-night-raw-primer-8-17-final-summerslam-hype-for-raw-potential-rey-return-hbk-talks-rko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/08\/17\/wwe-monday-night-raw-primer-8-17-final-summerslam-hype-for-raw-potential-rey-return-hbk-talks-rko\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER 8\/17:  Final SummerSlam Hype for Raw, Potential Rey Return, HBK Talks RKO"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1876386578\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER<br \/>\nORLANDO, FL. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER<br \/>\nAUGUST 17, 2020<br \/>\nAIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR<\/h3>\n<p><em>Announcers: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Raw Post Show<\/h4>\n<p>I am excited to be joining Pro Wrestling Torch columnist Zack Heydorn tonight on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post Show, discussing tonight\u2019s Raw. I hope you listen, give a call, or send an e-mail!<\/p>\n<h4>Thunderdome Announcement and Top Three Developments from Last Week<\/h4>\n<p>Tonight\u2019s episode of Raw will the last before SummerSlam, which comes to us this Sunday and will be the last show from the Performance Center before tapings move to the Amway Center in Orlando, FL., the home of the NBA\u2019s Orlando Magic. The arena opened in 2010 and began hosting WWE events starting with Raw in November of that year. Raw was last in the building in January of 2019.<\/p>\n<p>This morning, WWE announced Thunderdome, which will be a way for fans to be a part of the show virtually. Here are the details via Twitter, which includes a link to their website explaining the venture:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WWE ThunderDome, featuring a state-of-the-art set, video boards, pyrotechnics, lasers, cutting-edge graphics and drone cameras, takes WWE fans\u2019 viewing experience to an unprecedented level starting Friday on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SmackDown?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SmackDown<\/a>, kicking off <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SummerSlam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SummerSlam<\/a> Weekend! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/24IrawOj8a\">https:\/\/t.co\/24IrawOj8a<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\/status\/1295339624064311298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 17, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Here were the top three developments from last week:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dominik Mysterio signed his WWE contract as well as the contract for a SummerSlam match against Seth Rollins. He was beaten down by Rollins and his disciple Murphy.<\/li>\n<li>Asuka defeated Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion Bayley to earn a match against Sasha Banks at SummerSlam for the Raw Women\u2019s Championship.<\/li>\n<li>Randy Orton punt-kicked Ric Flair in the head to close out the show.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Items Advertised by WWE for Tonight<\/h4>\n<p>As of this writing, WWE has not posted their official preview. Here\u2019s what\u2019s advertised thus far:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is Rey Mysterio returning?<\/li>\n<li>Shawn Michaels comes to Raw<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Rey Mysterio<\/h4>\n<p>Last week, in what I considered one of the top three developments, Seth Rollins and his disciple Murphy beat down Dominik Mysterio. This happened after Dominik signed his WWE contract as well as the contract for a SummerSlam match with Rollins.<\/p>\n<p>The contract signing was moderated by Samoa Joe, who told Rollins he should be the greatest wrestler of this generation but got caught up in a few people booing him. Rollins countered by saying he was forced into this situation and had to make sacrifices for the greater good, which started with Rey Mysterio. Dominik spoke up and said that Rollins only fights for his own greater good. He said that his father Rey and Aleister Black aren\u2019t the same. Rollins told Dominik he wouldn\u2019t last ten seconds with him but offered to allow him to use the kendo stick or whatever other \u201ctool\u201d in their match at SummerSlam. They signed the contracts, and Dominik stood by Rollins took on Humberto Carrillo.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1355465764\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>WWE announced on Saturday that the match between Domink and Rollins would be a street fight.<\/p>\n<p>Rollins defeated Carrillo and then Murphy attacked Dominik. That set up Rollins to beat him down with a kendo stick, which went on for several minutes. He was tied up in the ropes at one point, while Rollins looked into the camera asking if \u201cPapa Rey was watching.\u201d He could very well have been watching, as WWE has speculated both in a commercial for Raw and on their website that Rey could be returning tonight. Rollins defeated Rey in an eye for an eye match at Extreme Rules: The Horror Show last month. Here\u2019s Rey on Twitter and Andrade, who showed support for Dominik. Also, Rollins talked some smack after WWE made the Street Fight announcement.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">You took this to another level <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWERollins?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@wwerollins<\/a> <br \/>You will FKN pay for this!! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6Q1lTEliij\">https:\/\/t.co\/6Q1lTEliij<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \u265bRey Mysterio\u2754 (@reymysterio) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/reymysterio\/status\/1292981867742932995?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 11, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">Ese cabron paga por que PAGA! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tTGYO59osq\">https:\/\/t.co\/tTGYO59osq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; \u265bRey Mysterio\u2754 (@reymysterio) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/reymysterio\/status\/1292985657313263616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 11, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It\u2019s not often a career begins and ends on the same night. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SummerSlam?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SummerSlam<\/a>. Street Fight. For the Greater Good. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xr4mtdCOwZ\">https:\/\/t.co\/xr4mtdCOwZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWERollins\/status\/1294680498988621824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: It was odd that Samoa Joe didn\u2019t help Dominik, considering he almost got involved two weeks ago, but he\u2019s likely physically unable at this point. I don\u2019t mind doing the beatdown for a while, but a babyface or two must come out at some point. I get trying to show how heinous Rollins is right now but use a little common sense. As far as the Street Fight goes, it\u2019s good to have a \u201cbells and whistles\u201d type of match considering the potential of how green Dominik may be at this point.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Shawn Michaels Returns to Raw<\/h4>\n<p>Last week, Randy Orton defeated Kevin Owens in a match set up the previous week when Owens was chatting with Ric Flair. Flair was a partner of Randy Orton when they were in Evolution together from 2003 until 2004 and has always been considered a mentor of Orton. After the match, in which Flair stood in Orton\u2019s corner, Orton asked Flair to stick around so they can talk.<\/p>\n<p>Orton told Flair after years of being his mentor, he was a liability at this point because he shouldn\u2019t have had to fight Owens. He acknowledged Flair helping him back when he was a \u201c22-year old punk ass.\u201d He said all Flair wanted to make him into the son he wished he had. He said he didn\u2019t love him anymore, and he was truly \u201cRic Flair\u201d he wouldn\u2019t have slipped into a coma, but he was a junkie for the spotlight. He now needed to focus on becoming a 14-time champion at SummerSlam.<\/p>\n<p>Flair was visibly hurt by Orton\u2019s comments. He admitted loving the spotlight, but also admitted he wanted to see Orton break HIS and not John Cena\u2019s record of being a 16-time champion. He said the one thing he realized when he came out of the coma was that he wanted to tell everyone he loved in his life that he loved them, including Orton. He understands when his dad (\u201cCowboy\u201d Bob Orton) was on the road how tough it was because there were no cell phones back then. He wanted to be there for Orton and be in his life. They embraced before Orton low-blowed Flair as Flair did to Christian several weeks ago. Moments later, as the lights were flickering, Orton delivered the punt kick to Flair. WWE Champion Drew McIntyre came out and stood over the fallen Flair.<\/p>\n<p>Tonight, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels returns to Raw to weigh in on what happened last week. Shawn retired Flair (at least from WWE) at WrestleMania in 2008 and feuded with Orton over the WWE Championship in the late 2000s. He\u2019s no stranger to the art of betrayal. Who can forget him turning on his Rockers partner Marty Jannetty on the Barber Shop in early 1992? Here\u2019s a clip of that incident:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"List This! - Legends of the Fall No. 2: HBK goes solo\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hsvUNQyWFhw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: The story last week, while well-acted, didn\u2019t do as much for me as it did for others. They got from \u201ca to b,\u201d but the story isn\u2019t going to resonate with me as much as the Michaels turn I included or Paul Orndorff turning on Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage turning on Hogan, Steve Austin aligning himself with Vince McMahon amongst others. It felt more like running a play to make Orton look menacing rather than telling a long-term story. That said, I look forward to what Michaels has to say tonight. I hope he talks serious business and doesn\u2019t tell bad dad jokes.<\/em><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1570852886\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h4>Other Match Results &amp; Notable Segments from Last Week<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Angelo Dawkins of the Raw Tag Team Champion Street Profits defeated Andrade.<\/li>\n<li>Bianca Belair defeated Zelina Vega.<\/li>\n<li>Shelton Benjamin defeated U.S. Champion Apollo Crews in a non-title match.<\/li>\n<li>Mickie James made her return to Raw in a backstage interview but was interrupted by Natalya and Lana wearing matching outfits. Lana talked about Tik Tok. I still don\u2019t get it.<\/li>\n<li>Ricochet &amp; Cedric Alexander &amp; The Viking Raiders (Erik &amp; Ivar) defeated 24\/7 Champion Akira Tozawa &amp; The Ninjas. After the match, one of the ninjas rolled up Tozawa to win the title. It turned out to be R-Truth.<\/li>\n<li>WWE Champion Drew McIntyre spoke about his upcoming title defense against Randy Orton at SummerSlam.<\/li>\n<li>Peyton Royce of the IIconics defeated Liv Morgan (with Ruby Riott).<\/li>\n<li>More of Raw Underground aired. Dabba-Kato, Riddick Moss, Cal Bloom, Arturo Ruas, and Shayna Baszler were the featured wrestlers. Shayna beat up three women and Kato grabbed a dude by his junk.<\/li>\n<li>Retribution flipped over a car and threw a cinderblock through a window.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Final Thoughts<\/h4>\n<p>I give WWE credit for the Thunderdome venture. It will be a different look which is desperately needed in this time, and fans want to be a part of the experience again. As far as the show, there are things to look forward to but also things WWE needs to reconsider. Retribution is not doing it for me as they are more annoying than intriguing. Let\u2019s get to what they are and explain their mission. I\u2019m skeptical of Raw Underground, but I\u2019m not giving up just yet. My focus is on the Drew McIntyre-Randy Orton feud as well as what they\u2019re doing with Bayley and Sasha Banks. I don\u2019t like Asuka wrestling both women at SummerSlam, but I\u2019m curious how it plays out.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome! Thank you for reading.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2513268817\"><div id=\"pwtor-3979622351\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER ORLANDO, FL. AT THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER AUGUST 17, 2020 AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH.COM CONTRIBUTOR Announcers: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/08\/17\/wwe-monday-night-raw-primer-8-17-final-summerslam-hype-for-raw-potential-rey-return-hbk-talks-rko\/\" title=\"WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER 8\/17:  Final SummerSlam Hype for Raw, Potential Rey Return, HBK Talks RKO\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":102827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,52,4354,27,5893,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prowrestlingnews","category-opnionandanalysis","category-raw-primer","category-specialists","category-tvprimers","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2020\/08\/20200814_Raw_ShaunMicheals_FC_TuneIn-befb0eff03c2ab8f2b9d3ed87e4899e0-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102828,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102821\/revisions\/102828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}