WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Women deliver thrilling matches, new United States title unveiled

Asuka, Kairi Sane, Sasha Banks and Bayley dominated on Monday night

There should be no doubt that the women's locker room can carry a WWE show these days, but that point was proven yet again on this week's edition of WWE Raw with Asuka, Kairi Sane, Bayley and Sasha Banks delivering both in character and in-ring work. A champion vs. champion match between Bayley and Asuka served as the night's main event after Sane and Banks set a high bar with a clash earlier in the night.

Ultimately, it was a good night for The Kabuki Warriors as both Sane and Asuka picked up victories -- though Asuka's was more of a statement win after Sane beat Banks after interference by Bayley in the first match. In the main event, Asuka managed to overcome the underhanded tactics of the women's tag team champions with a little help from Bayley's Extreme Rules opponent, Nikki Cross. The action also set up a women's tag title match between the two teams for next week's Raw.

You can find the full recap and highlights below, including what happened when WWE champion Drew McIntyre had to face a ghost from his past, courtesy of Dolph Ziggler.

WWE Raw results, grades

Drew McIntyre (c) def. Heath Slater via pinfall in a non-title match: McIntyre opened the show demanding Dolph Ziggler announce what their Extreme Rules stipulation would be. Ziggler refused, saying he would keep it a secret until Extreme Rules, not wanting to give up the advantage McIntyre had given him. He then introduced Slater as proof that McIntyre had left friends behind on his climb to the top. Slater demanded a match with McIntyre, slapping him after saying he called McIntyre every day after he was fired, but that McIntyre didn't do the same with he was released by WWE. When the match began, Slater charged forward, landing punches in the corner. Seconds later, McIntyre exploded with a Claymore for the pinfall. McIntyre walked off after yelling at Ziggler, but came back to make the save when Ziggler attacked Slater. After Ziggler ran off, Slader and McIntyre shared a hug and a fist bump. Slater's promo was incredible, though it would have been good to give some space between the promo and the squash match. It was very good to see McIntyre shown as something other than a bulletproof, perfect champion. Grade: A

Kairi Sane def. Sasha Banks via disqualification: The match came after Asuka interrupted a Banks and Bayley promo and Bayley said Banks would accept anything Asuka threw at her ahead of Bayley vs. Asuka later in the night. With reports Sane is returning to Japan and effectively "leaving the company," aside from maybe serving in an ambassador role, there were few opponents to give her a better singles match sendoff than Banks. The two women went after it in a really great first-time match, with both clicking and hitting a lot of innovative offense until Sane had Banks locked in a modified Boston Crab with the legs interlocked. At that point, Bayley ran in and attacked to draw the disqualification. A brawl broke out between the two teams, ending with Sane dove onto Banks and Bayley with an elbow drop from the top rope. Grade: B+

Seth Rollins' KO Show appearance led to an Extreme Rules challenge: Rollins and Murphy took out Aleister Black before the segment, leaving him down and out and in a Rey Mysterio mask.  Rollins was quick to ask about Owens' injured ankle, leading Owens to say he's sure it hurts less than Rollins' ego lately. Owens then explained that they now have a bond after being WrestleMania opponents, before gifting him a KOMania shirt matching the one he wore when he beat Rollins at WrestleMania earlier in the year. Rollins said he only came on the KO Show to address the "now medically cleared" Rey Mysterio and laid out an official challenge for Extreme Rules. Rollins then made an offer to Owens to fight with him, rather than against him. After offering Owens a chance to "fight for the greater good," Rey and Dominick Mysterio made their way to the ring, with Mysterio accepting the challenge for Extreme Rules. Owens then offered to replace Alistair Black as Mysterio's tag partner later in the night, with the winning team picking the stipulation for Rollins vs. Mysterio at Extreme Rules. A brief brawl broke out as the segment ended. The tease of more Dominick involvement continues as the wheels spin on this feud without feeling like they're going anywhere. At least the Extreme Rules match is official now. Grade: C

Rey Mysterio & Kevin Owens def. Seth Rollins & Murphy via pinfall: Rollins avoided getting in the ring with Mysterio, quickly tagging out whenever it seemed the two were about to clash. After Murphy took out Mysterio during the match, Murphy began to stalk Dominick. Rollins took out Owens and then got in Dominick's face, daring Dominick to hit him for the DQ. When Dominick refused, Rollins gouged his eyes. The match eventually got back on track before Mysterio exploded offensively on Murphy. As he set up for a 619, Rollins slid into the ring to attack but also was placed in position for a 619. Rollins escaped and grabbed Dominick, threatening to "end him." Aleister Black made his way to the ring and Rollins dared him to hit him. In the confusion, Dominick raked the eyes of Murphy, allowing Mysterio to hit the 619 and frog splash for the victory. Mysterio then challenged Rollins to an "eye for an eye" match, saying he would pull Rollins' eye out with his bare hands. This was good tag action with some nice story beats throughout. But they need to expand on what the match type actually includes. Grade: B

Bobby Lashley & MVP def. Cedric Alexander & Ricochet via pinfall: Before the match, MVP and Lashley cut a promo in the ring and said that Crews disrespecting MVP was a bad career move, because it put him on Lashley's bad side as well. MVP then said that, since he already beat Crews, he was the United States champion already, and unveiled a new title belt. Lashley said that things are official when he says they're official, and said MVP didn't have to wait to beat Crews at Extreme Rules to be named champion. Ricochet and Cedric Alexander interrupted to say titles have to be earned before the two sides clashed and Lashley and MVP were ran from the ring. MVP wrestled in a shirt, tie and slacks and largely let Lashley do the dirty work. Ricochet and Alexander gave it a go, but ultimately Lashley was simply too much and he drilled Alexander with a spear to score the pinfall. After the match, Lashley posed with MVP holding the new United States title. Lashley then locked Alexander in the full nelson but Ricochet made the save. Grade: C+

Randy Orton, Andrade & Angel Garza def. Big Show & The Viking Raiders via pinfall: As Big Show and the Raiders dominated the early part of the match, Orton grew increasingly frustrated and called Garza to the outside. He then slammed Garza into the plexiglass around the ring and told him to get his act together, saying he knew Garza grew up in the business and needed to get his head straight. The heels took over for a bit after this, but Big Show finally got back in the ring and made the comeback, including shoving off an Orton RKO attempt. Eventually, Andrade and Garza avoided the Viking Experience before an Orton blind tag allowed him to hit Erik with the RKO for the victory. Big Show stood in the ring after the match staring Orton down. Grade: B-

Randy Orton gave R-Truth an assist: Orton an Flair were celebrating backstage when Truth ran into Orton. Truth told Flair that he "cleaned up nice" for "the dirtiest player in the game," before accusing Flair of being Akira Tozawa in disguise. Truth ran off and Tozawa and his ninjas ran in, only to have Orton direct them to go the wrong direction to catch him. 

Billie Kay def. Ruby Riott via pinfall: After losing to Peyton Royce last week, Riott tried her luck against Kay, confronting the IIconics backstage and saying she didn't have a problem with the duo before they involved themselves in her life. Riott took over the early part of the match against Kay, but Royce's outside distraction allowed Kay to hit an awkward looking modified powerbomb for the win in a short match. Grade: C-

Asuka (c) def. (c) Bayley via pinfall in a non-title match: Earlier in the night, Asuka laid out a challenge to Bayley and Sasha Banks to face the Kabuki Warriors next week in a tag title match, a challenge Banks accepted on behalf of her team later in the evening. The two women were given plenty of time to tell a story -- a story that largely revolved around Bayley taking ever (legal) shortcut in the book, including slingshotting Asuka's face into the ropes and reversing her on the outside to drop her face-first on the announce table. Asuka kept fighting back through Bayley's tactics, eventually hitting a dropkick, knee to the face, hip attack and German suplex before finishing with another running hip attack for a near fall. Asuka cut off Bayley's comeback with a brutal looking spinning backfist. Bayley eventually hit Kairi Sane with a cheap shot outside of the ring, drawing Sane to try and run in. Bayley used the distraction to throw Asuka into Sasha Banks' knee and a saito suplex for a near fall. As Bayley taunted Asuka, she was distracted by Nikki Cross, who had been ejected earlier but was now in the crowd. Asuka locked up Bayley in the Asuka lock, leading Banks to run in and Sane to make the save. Bayley tried to counter the submission, allowing Asuka to score a tight pin to secure the victory in the chaos. This was a very good match that did nothing to hurt Bayley in any way and served to build up both the tag title match next week and the two title matches that are set for Extreme Rules. Grade: B+

[Jul 6, 2020 at 11:01 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Asuka def. Bayley via pinfall: The two women were given plenty of time to tell a story -- a story that largely revolved around Bayley taking ever (legal) shortcut in the book, including slingshotting Asuka's face into the ropes and reversing her on the outside to drop her face-first on the announce table. Asuka kept fighting back through Bayley's tactics, eventually hitting a dropkick, knee to the face, hip attack and German suplex before finishing with another running hip attack for a near fall. Asuka cut off Bayley's comeback with a brutal looking spinning backfist. Bayley eventually hit Kairi Sane with a cheap shot outside of the ring, drawing Sane to try and run in. Bayley used the distraction to throw Asuka into Sasha Banks' knee and a saito suplex for a near fall. As Bayley taunted Asuka, she was distracted by Nikki Cross, who had been ejected earlier but was now in the crowd. Asuka locked up Bayley in the Asuka lock, leading Banks to run in and Sane to make the save. Bayley tried to counter the submission, allowing Asuka to score a tight pin to secure the victory in the chaos. This was a very good match that did nothing to hurt Bayley in any way and served to build up both the tag title match next week and the two title matches that are set for Extreme Rules. Grade: B+

[Jul 6, 2020 at 10:28 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Sasha Banks accepted the tag title match against Asuka and Kairi Sane on Bayley's behalf, frustrating her tag partner in the process.

[Jul 6, 2020 at 10:28 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Billie Kay def. Ruby Riott via pinfall: After losing to Peyton Royce last week, Riott tried her luck against Kay, confronting the IIconics backstage and saying she didn't have a problem with the duo before they involved themselves in her life. Riott took over the early part of the match against Kay, but Royce's outside distraction allowed Kay to hit an awkward looking modified powerbomb for the win in a short match. Grade: C-

[Jul 6, 2020 at 10:23 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Randy Orton gave R-Truth an assist: Orton an Flair were celebrating backstage when Truth ran into Orton. Truth told Flair that he "cleaned up nice" for "the dirtiest player in the game," before accusing Flair of being Akira Tozawa in disguise. Truth ran off and Tozawa and his ninjas ran in, only to have Orton direct them to go the wrong direction to catch him. 

[Jul 6, 2020 at 10:15 pm ET · Brent Brookhouse]

Randy Orton, Andrade & Angel Garza def. Big Show & The Viking Raiders via pinfall: As Big Show and the Raiders dominated the early part of the match, Orton grew increasingly frustrated and called Garza to the outside. He then slammed Garza into the plexiglass around the ring and told him to get his act together, saying he knew Garza grew up in the business and needed to get his head straight. The heels took over for a bit after this, but Big Show finally got back in the ring and made the comeback, including shoving off an Orton RKO attempt. Eventually, Andrade and Garza avoided the Viking Experience before an Orton blind tag allowed him to hit Erik with the RKO for the victory. Big Show stood in the ring after the match staring Orton down. Grade: B-