WWE continued its ascent toward the first-ever two-night SummerSlam with Monday Night Raw.
Roman Reigns’ WWE return on July 14 provided some much-needed star power for WWE Raw after Seth Rollins’ injury at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
The Tribal Chief finally reacted to Paul Heyman’s WrestleMania 41 betrayal as another SummerSlam match was confirmed.
Here are five things we learned from WWE Raw.
CM Punk and Gunther come face to face
CM Punk opened the show to share his feelings about winning last week’s Gauntlet Match and setting up a World Heavyweight Championship clash with Gunther.
The Best in the World complimented the Austrian for his dominance in WWE since his main roster debut in 2022.
However, Punk said he’d been preparing for wrestlers like Gunther for his whole career and he’s ready to become the World Heavyweight Champion.
This brought out the World Heavyweight Champion, who said he was going to destroy Punk at SummerSlam.
It’s refreshing to see Gunther back to his swaggering confidence and this first-time bout feels like a genuine classic in the making.
Stephanie Vaquer vs Iyo Sky is ruined by interference again
After their WWE Raw bout on the day after WrestleMania 41 ended in a disqualification, Stephanie Vaquer and Iyo Sky once again collided in the middle of the ring.
Unfortunately, the certified dream match reached the same conclusion as Chelsea Green and The Secret Hervice attacked Vaquer, while Naomi attacked Sky.
This brought out Rhea Ripley, who evened the odds and allowed Sky and Vaquer to stand tall in the middle of the ring.
Consistent disqualifications for Sky and Vaquer is annoying, but it’s also helping build a PLE match between the two, which could come as early as Clash in Paris.
Sheamus inflicts Rusev’s first loss since WWE comeback
Sheamus continued his incredible streak of television matches with his excellent re-match with Rusev on the show.
The two brutes knocked chunks out of each other as the Irish star picked up the win to level out their contest as a draw.
This was Rusev’s first loss since his return on the WWE Raw after WrestleMania 41 and it should lead to another match between the pair.
The two men’s performances together have earned them the right at a rubber match at SummerSlam.
Dominik Mysterio is finally cleared for AJ Styles clash
Following his phenomenal return to TNA’s Slammiversary at the weekend, AJ Styles appeared in a variety of guises to try and scare Dominik Mysterio into getting cleared for their SummerSlam match.
Styles dressed up as part of the WWE medical team, as well as a valet and a janitor to keep an eye on the Intercontinental Champion.
They were entertaining sequences, which culminated with Mysterio attacking Styles and confirming he was cleared for their bout.
Roman Reigns discredits Paul Heyman for The Bloodline
Reigns made his return to WWE Raw after last week’s return to confront Paul Heyman, Bronson Reed, and Bron Breakker.
The Tribal Chief told Heyman he wasn’t as influential in The Bloodline as he thought, saying he was a dumba– rather than a Wiseman.
This brought the ire of Bron Breakker, who continued to tease a singles match with Reigns, and The Tribal Chief eventually hit the rising star with a Superman Punch.
The numbers game became too much for Reigns, who was hit by Breakker’s Spear before Jey Uso came out for the save.
It looks like it’ll be Uso and Reigns vs Reed and Breakker at SummerSlam, which is a shame because a singles match would’ve been preferred.