The top three matches for next week’s WWE RAW from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, have been revealed.
Johnny Gargano will make his return to the ring on RAW next week. This will be his first match since NXT WarGames on December 5, 2021, when he lost to current Unified NXT Champion Bron Breakker, current NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes, Tony D’Angelo, and Gray Waller with Max Dupri (fka LA Knight), Butch (fka Pete Dunne), and Tommaso Ciampa.
On the August 22 RAW, Gargano made a surprise return to WWE and was confronted by his former tag team partner Austin Theory. Gargano finished the segment by superkicking Theory. On last week’s RAW, Theory confronted Gargano in an empty arena, accusing him of being jealous. On Monday’s episode of RAW, Theory interrupted Gargano’s backstage interview with Sarah Schreiber. Gargano had just addressed Theory’s comments from last week about how Gargano should be careful when swimming with sharks in WWE, saying he’s been swimming with sharks his entire career and Theory may have forgotten what he’s capable of in the ring, but he’s eager to remind everyone what he’s capable of. Theory interrupted and mocked Gargano, saying that since his return, all he’s done is talk, and that he should rename himself Johnny Talking. Gargano then revealed that he will return to the ring next Monday night. He then turned to Theory and mocked him for what happened with Tyson Fury at Clash at The Castle and the beating he took from Kevin Owens on Monday’s RAW, warning him to be careful when swimming with those sharks.
WWE later announced Gargano’s return to the ring for next week, but no opponent was named.
Dominik Mysterio will also face WWE Hall of Famer Edge on RAW next week.
Dominik turned on his father Rey Mysterio and Edge at WWE Clash at The Castle on Saturday, prompting Edge to challenge him to a fight on Monday’s RAW. Instead, Rey came out and asked Edge to listen to him out and not do this because his son is messed up due to The Judgment Day poisoning his mind. Edge stated that he loves Rey, but his son is old enough to drink, drive, enter the ring, and take responsibility for his actions. This prompted Rhea Ripley to appear instead, taunting Rey and Edge and declaring that Dominik is no longer Rey’s little boy because she saw potential in him and raised him to manhood. Dominik then appeared, dressed entirely in black and with his hair slicked back. Rey told his son to calm down, but Dominik and Ripley approached the ring, and Rey confronted them. Rey told Edge to do what he needed to do before walking away and telling Dominik he didn’t have to do it. Balor and Priest then attacked Edge from behind in the ring. He initially fought them off, but they eventually beat him down after Dominik attacked from behind with a chop block. Rey returned to ringside, but Dominik shoved him and Rhea hit him from behind before hurling him into the steel ring steps. Edge was defeated in the ring by Priest and Balor, who hit him with South of Heaven and several chair shots. Balor then performed a Coup de Grace, wrapping the chair around Edge’s knee. Dominik and The Judgment Day stood ringside as Rey returned to the ring.
Rey later stated in a backstage interview that he will not touch his son, but that he needs to speak with Dominik privately. He also challenged The Judgment Day, but was defeated in singles action by Priest after a distraction by Dominik. Following the match, Dominik was seen smirking at what Priest had done to his father. The Judgment Day and Dominik then posed over Rey as Ripley promised Dominik would send Edge back into retirement the following week.
On commentary, Corey Graves later stated that there was still no update on Edge’s condition, but the match against Dominik was confirmed for next week.
Next Monday, Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah will defend their WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles against IYO SKY and Dakota Kai.
Last week, Rodriguez and Aliyah were crowned champions after defeating SKY and Kai in the tournament finals for the vacant titles. However, there has been talk of a rematch since then because Kai was not legal at the time Aliyah pinned her. During Monday’s RAW, Kai confirmed the controversy and revealed that she and SKY will have another shot at the titles the following week. This will be Rodriguez and Aliyah’s first title defence after they defeated Doudrop and Nikki A.S.H. in a non-title match on Monday’s show.
