WWE Raw results, recap and grades: Seth Rollins blindsides Cody Rhodes with brutal attack

The attack on Rhodes gives him some time to have surgery and recover from his recent injury

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WWE

One night after the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, WWE brought Raw to Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was a fairly loaded show in terms of big developments as the build to July's Money in the Bank event begins.

The headline story coming out of the event is Cody Rhodes being written off television after a brutal attack from Seth Rollins. Rhodes suffered a legitimate tear of a pectoral tendon and needs to have surgery to repair the injury, so setting a story into motion to allow him to be off for an unspecified amount of time was necessary.

CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Resch Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Seth Rollins blindsides injured Cody Rhodes

Rhodes opened the show with an in-ring promo following a video package covering his match with Rollins inside Hell in a Cell. Rhodes then cut an emotional promo about his love of what he does and his willingness to have wrestled through his torn pectoral tendon at the event. Rhodes said that he was "a little banged up" but suggested he may try to return to the ring in time for Money in the Bank. Rollins then cut off Rhodes' promo and said that while he doesn't like Rhodes, he does respect him, and even shook Rhodes' hand before leaving the ring, though not before telling Rhodes that Dusty Rhodes would be proud of his baby boy.

Then, like a true heel, Rollins attacked Rhodes from behind as Rhodes was walking up the entrance ramp. After hitting Rhodes with a sledgehammer, Rollins ripped off his rival's shirt before stomping on his injured chest. Rhodes was offered a stretcher to the back but refused and walked away.

It's a little funny that Rhodes was offered a stretcher after his already-injured chest was attacked and would have no impact on his ability to walk. But that's wrestling for you. WWE pulled off two good swerves on the day with this segment and The Judgement Day violently kicking Edge out of their group (see below). That is unusual from the WWE writers' room. Rather than sending Rhodes off for surgery on a positive note as they suggested, they allowed Rollins to gain some momentum that he can use as WWE looks to deal with a very thin top end of their roster. For the success of this angle and the Judgement Day segment, this was a fairly strong episode of Raw in terms of pure storytelling. Grade: A-

What else happened on WWE Raw?

  • 24/7 Championship – Dana Brooke (c) def. Becky Lynch via pinfall with an assist from Asuka. Lynch yelled at Reggie and Akira Tozawa before the match, saying her matches would no longer involve outside interference. This, of course, led to Asuka eventually making her way to ringside and holding Lynch's foot so she could not kick out of a Brooke pin.
  • Riddle def. The Miz via pinfall with an RKO. The match came together after the pair argued when Riddle appeared on Miz TV and Miz refused to accept a match. After Ciampa attacked Riddle, Miz quickly agreed to the match only to lose after Riddle stripped him of the tuxedo Miz was wearing to celebrate the season debut of his reality show.
  • The Street Profits def. The Usos via count out in a champion's contender match. The lengthy match came to an end after a series of dives to the outside by both teams allowed the Profits to beat the Usos back into the ring for the victory.
  • Veer Mahan def. Dominik Mysterio via disqualification after interference from Rey Mysterio. Mahan was dominating the action when Mysterio had seen enough and interfered to save his son from further punishment.
  • Finn Balor joined The Judgement Day before the group turned on Edge. Balor said he spoke to Damian Priest after the six-person tag at Hell in a Cell and saw the light. Priest agreed before saying Edge taught them to shed their weaknesses and limitations – and that their biggest limitation was Edge. Balor, Priest and Rhea Ripley then brutally attacked Edge, using chairs, tables and big moves to lay out the legend.
  • Omos def. Cedric Alexander via pinfall after a chokebomb just seconds into the match.
  • Ezekiel def. Otis via pinfall with a crucifix. After the match, Ezekiel challenged Owens to a rematch of their bout from Hell in a Cell. Owens agreed so long as Ezekiel admitted that he is actually Elias, which Ezekiel did. Once Owens said the rematch was on, Ezekiel said he took a page from Owens' playbook and told a lie. He is, he said, Ezekiel, not Elias.
  • Rhea Ripley def. Doudrop, Liv Morgan and Alexa Bliss via pinfall with Riptide on Doudrop. With the win in the main event, Ripley gets a shot at Bianca Belair and the Raw women's championship at Money in the Bank
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