With just a few on-screen tweaks – also the off-screen retirement of Vince McMahon – WWE almost had themselves a Top 25 Matches of the Month at Happy Wrestling Land for the first time since April 2021. The matches were all from WWE TV too, as the August schedule featured no Premium Live Event at all.
Who exceeded expectations in Triple H’s revamped playground of sport and entertainment? Read on…
1. Montez Ford vs. Seth Rollins (RAW 8/1/22)
What a great wrestling match: exciting, but with purpose! There was a buzz in the air as this was the first RAW with McMahon retired and Levesque in charge, and the wrestlers took advantage: Seth Freakin’ Rollins wrestled like the top heel archetype he’s always played with but never leaned into, while Montez Ford was prepared to be showcased to full “future superstar” degree. The first day of the month had the best match of the month.
2. WWE U.S. Title: Bobby Lashley [c] vs. Ciampa (RAW 8/8/22)
Tommaso Ciampa entered in Harley Race’s robe and nearly lifted the U.S. Title from Bobby Lashley – like Ford/Rollins there was plenty happening on the perimeter, but inside the ring this was a tremendous big guy vs. small guy who won’t admit it type of match. Very similar to when Ciampa challenged the guy who became Gunther.
3. Kevin Owens vs. Chad Gable (RAW 8/22/22)
Stuff like this was happening all over August, just wrestlers wrestling wrestlers surrounded by hot crowds and good vibes. Here was Kevin Owens going 20 minutes with Chad Gable in the middle of RAW, and as the kickouts continued it just got better. After the match Owens beat up Alpha Academy and looked like a killer again. Just like that.
4. WWE Intercontinental Title: Gunther [c] vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (SmackDown 8/12/22)
Five years ago this match might’ve ran the whole business; I can settle for the high-end SmackDown main event it was here. Not an epic, but there were flashes of it: Nakamura still has some tricks (Timing! Comebacks! Bursts of charisma!) while Gunther is just getting started.
5. Drew McIntyre vs. Kevin Owens (RAW 8/15/22)
The rapid Kevin Owens re-build project raged through the month of August and continued with this match, which began after a promo where they name-dropped “professional wrestling” like it was a big deal or something. Then they professionally wrestled and delivered one of those extra impressive matches that’s booked cold but heats everybody up.
6. Bianca Belair vs. IYO SKY (RAW 8/1/22)
Somewhere during COVID, WWE’s Women’s Revolution severely regressed — the pillow fights weren’t back, but the 2-minute matches booked to serve one or two feuds (if that) were. The return of Bayley and emergence of Damage CTRL throughout August was a tremendous attempt at fixing that. Here, a day after Io Shirai returned at SummerSlam with a new name, she went 10-minutes with The Champ. Just good wrestling man.
7. Angelo Dawkins vs. Seth Rollins (RAW 8/8/22)
Similar to Montez Ford vs. Seth Rollins, just a few less instances of spectacle. Angelo Dawkins kind of seems like he won Pro Wrestling.
8. NXT UK Title Tournament – Round 1: Oliver Carter vs. Charlie Dempsey (NXT UK 8/11/22)
Charlie Dempsey got really good really fast, while Oliver Carter used his last match on NXT UK to show a fire that should guarantee him future employment in This Business.
9. Cedric Alexander vs. T-BAR (Main Event 8/31/22)
The McMahon Retirement Effect even made its way to Hulu and Main Event, where these two were clearly told to let loose and that they did. It wasn’t just a few cool spots though: they tore this house down, folks. There was a rematch a week later almost as good.
10. Falls Count Anywhere: Solo Sikoa vs. Von Wagner (NXT 8/2/22)
It was between this and the Lights Out Match and I’m sorry. Just a fun bunch of chaos on TV that accomplished a lot more than most 3-star NXT Black & Gold matches. Solo Sikoa was on the main roster a month later.
Honorable Mentions: Lights Out Match: Tiffany Stratton vs. Wendy Choo (NXT 8/23/22), No DQ Match: AJ Styles vs. The Miz (RAW 8/8/22), NXT UK Title Tournament – Round 1: Wolfgang vs. Trent Seven (NXT UK 8/11/22), Triple Threat Match – Winner Advances to Match Later Tonight for U.S. Title Opportunity: AJ Styles vs. Mustafa Ali vs. The Miz (RAW 8/1/22), Triple Threat Match – Winner Advances to Match Later Tonight for U.S. Title Opportunity: Dolph Ziggler vs. Ciampa vs. Chad Gable (RAW 8/1/22), Winner Earns U.S. Title Opportunity: AJ Styles vs. Ciampa (RAW 8/1/22)
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. Rey & Dominik Mysterio (RAW 8/1/22), Rey Mysterio vs. Finn Balor (RAW 8/8/22), Edge vs. Damian Priest (RAW 8/22/22), WWE Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament – Round 1: Dakota Kai & IYO SKY vs. Dana Brooke & Tamina (RAW 8/8/22), WWE U.S. Title: Bobby Lashley [c] vs. AJ Styles (RAW 8/15/22), NXT North American Title: Carmelo Hayes [c] vs. Giovanni Vinci (NXT 8/16/22)
Street Fight: Santos Escobar vs. Tony D’Angelo (NXT 8/16/22), WWE Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament – Semi Final: Asuka & Alexa Bliss vs. IYO SKY & Dakota Kai (RAW 8/22/22), Mustafa Ali & Cedric Alexander vs. The Miz & Ciampa (RAW 8/15/22), Xyon Quinn vs. Quincy Elliott (Level Up 8/5/22), Thea Hail w/ Andre Chase and Bodhi Hayward vs. Arianna Grace (NXT 8/9/22)
