WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Bianca Belair defeats Nia Jax to cement WarGames advantage

Belair's team will now have the numbers advantage for the start of Saturday's women's WarGames match

Bianca Belair took down Nia Jax in the Raw main event on Monday, securing the advantage for her team in Saturday's women's WarGames match. Just as important, however, is that Bayley may have cemented herself as the fifth member of Belair's team, replacing the injured Jade Cargill.

WarGames starts with one competitor from each team in the cage -- which encases two wrestling rings. After five minutes, another member of the team with the advantage enters the match, leading to a three-minute period where they will enjoy being on the good side of a two-on-one situation. Every three minutes thereafter, the teams continue alternating new entrants until the match "officially" begins when all 10 competitors are in the cage.

For that reason, Jax vs. Belair was a significant match that could tilt the scales and it certainly put the Jax's team at a major disadvantage on one of the most anticipated nights of the year for WWE.

CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

Bianca Belair defeats Nia Jax to cement WarGames advantage

Early in the show, Iyo Sky, Bianca Belair, Naomi and Rhea Ripley talked backstage in an attempt to decide who would replace the injured Jade Cargill on their WarGames team. Sky pitched Kairi Sane while Naomi suggested Bayley, with Belair saying she didn't like either option. Ripley simply said that she doesn't care about anything but getting her hands on Liv Morgan. Nia Jax spoke to her team later in the show, saying she didn't even care if she beat Belair in their match to determine which team would have the advantage Saturday because she could simply take Belair out and take the team down to just three members.

Bianca Belair def. Nia Jax via pinfall after a 450 splash. Jax did attempt to brutalize Belair and take her out of WarGames, but Belair kept firing back until Bayley ran in late to attack Jax, leaving her lying for Belair to hit with the 450 and secure the advantage.

It's not confirmed by WWE, but Bayley seems to have locked up the fifth spot on Belair's team after giving the assist. The rest of Raw -- aside from the advancement of New Day splitting (see below) -- felt like mostly killing time to get to Survivor Series. Grade: C+

What else happened on WWE Raw?

• Gunther opened the show in the ring. He was immediately interrupted by Damian Priest, who said Gunther's aura as unbeatable and dangerous was gone. Gunther made the first move, hitting Priest with the microphone and delivering punches on the floor. Priest was able to quickly turn things around before putting Gunther through the commentary desk with a razor's edge.
• American Made def. LWO via pinfall with a schoolboy pin on Rey Mysterio. Chad Gable interfered down the stretch, turning Mysterio's mask around to blind him and setting up the finish.
• Ludwig Kaiser def. Bron Breakker via disqualification after being attacked by Sheamus. Kaiser and Breakker were going blow for blow when the action spilled outside, allowing Sheamus to run in and blindside Kaiser. A brawl broke out between Kaiser, Breaker and Sheamus after the match. The brawl continued through a commercial break, at which point Adam Pearce screamed at the trio, saying if they wanted to fight, they could do so in a triple threat for Breakker's intercontinental championship at Survivor Series.
• World Tag Team Championship -- Finn Balor & JD McDonagh (c) def. War Raiders via pinfall when McDonagh rolled up Ivar. War Raiders seemed to have the match in hand until repeated interference from Carlito and Dominik Mysterio eventually set the opening for the Judgment Day duo to retain the titles.
• Alpha Academy def. New Day via pinfall after an Akira Tozawa senton on Xavier Woods. Kofi Kingston was set to start the match, but Woods tagged himself in immediately and proceeded to lose the match almost immediately. Woods and Kingston argued after the match, with the argument going to the backstage area where things got more heated. Both men accused the other of not being good enough and took credit for the successes of the other.
• Nikki Cross attacked Scarlett after Karrion Kross, The Miz and Authors of Pain left her backstage to go find the Wyatts. When Final Testament found Scarlett, she was terrified and "everyone has something to lose" was written on her mirror.
• Adam Pearce announced a tournament to crown the first women's intercontinental champion.