Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE Raw on August 12.

WWE is beginning its build for Bash in Berlin on August 31, but there was a lot to cover on Monday's show, too.

Here's what WWE advertised for this week's episode:

• Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker
• Rhea Ripley opens the show
• Damage CTRL vs. Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler
• Damian Priest vs. Carlito
• Alpha Academy vs. American Made

Let's take a look at what happened on Monday's Raw at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.

Rhea Ripley Opens Raw; Damian Priest vs. Carlito

Raw opened with a video showing all of the ways The Judgment Day has changed since SummerSlam. Finn Bálor narrated the film as if it was a promo.

Ripley came out and gave a promo directed at Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio. The new couple appeared in the crowd, and Dom was drowned out by boos as he tried to speak.

Damian Priest appeared behind Dirty Dom and started beating him up. Morgan tried to help but Ripley chased her away.

The Eradicator was great in this segment, but Dom's lack of believability hurt the overall segment. This felt like a story from a teen comedy, not how adults should be acting.

Priest and Carlito's match started once the apple enthusiast showed up to help Dom. They battled through two commercial breaks, but they had less TV time than it sounds because most of the action took place during adverts.

Priest picked up a predictable win and was immediately attacked by the rest of The Judgment Day. Ripley ran down and kicked Carlito below the belt before helping The Archer of Infamy take out JD McDonagh.

This was a decent way to open the show, but the match was forgettable and the promo overstayed its welcome a little.

Result: Priest defeated Carlito

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The video package WWE aired was kind of a unique way to recap events. 
• The look on Priest's face before he attacked Dom was perfect. 
• Carlito was not in his ring gear. He wore mismatched boots and sweatpants. 

Odyssey Jones vs. Vincent Winey

Bo Dallas was in a video for The Wyatt Sicks before Odyssey Jones took on a man from the Performance Center named Vincent Winey. The New Day were by his side.

Jones threw his opponent across the ring to start a series of offensive maneuvers. He picked up a squash victory with a spinning sidewalk slam.

The Final Testament showed up and accused Kofi Kingston of trying to replace Xavier Woods with Jones. This led to them all agreeing to a six-man tag match.

The post-match segment was longer than the bout itself. This feud has gone on long enough, so let's hope it comes to a close soon.

Result: Jones defeated Winey

Grade: Incomplete

Notable Moments and Observations

• The video package with Dallas was incredibly creepy in the way it was intended to be. 
• Jones has lost a lot of weight since NXT. He's moving around much quicker. 
• Jones' sentons looked good.

Alpha Academy vs. American Made

Brutus and Julius Creed took on Akira Tozawa and Otis in tag team action. Chad Gable was overseas for the Olympics, so he sent in a video to support the Creeds.

As soon as the bell rang, all four men began brawling. This was a Texas Tornado rules match, so all four men were legal.

After taking out Tozawa, Brutus and Julius teamed up on The Dozer. After a break, Otis made a comeback and started running over both opponents.

This was a high-energy contest with a few standout moments. One or two spots didn't go as planned, but the negatives were overshadowed by the positives by a big margin.

Ivy Nile attacked Maxxine, and the distraction allowed the Creeds to pick up the win.

Result: American Made defeated Alpha Academy

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• Ivy Nile attacking Maxxine was so predictable that we wrote this sentence before it happened and left it in. 
• It's a crime that it took WWE this long to find a way to use the Creeds.  
• The way Otis caught Julius was so impressive. 
• Tozawa botched a suicide dive but thankfully didn't hurt himself. 
• The superplex spot was incredible and made the crowd go nuts. 

Damage CTRL vs. Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark

Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane battled Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler in a tag title No. 1 Contender's match, with Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn and Sonya Deville watching at ringside.

Damage CTRL took control of Baszler with some double-team tactics. Sane was especially aggressive against her former NXT rival.

Sane and Sky did a good job falling into the babyface roles, while Baszler and Stark used their size and power to play bullies.

Stark superkicked Fyre at ringside after Sky avoided it. As The Genius of the Sky was preparing to win, Dawn interfered to cause a DQ. The champions took out both teams to end the segment standing tall.

The result wasn't ideal, but all of the action leading up to it was entertaining and made both teams look strong.

Result: No-contest

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• The video package for Bronson Reed that was narrated by Michael Cole and Pat McAfee was good.
• Candice Michelle was shown in the crowd.
• The Pure Fusion Collective sounds like the name of a company with a very vague business plan. 
• Sane always makes her offense look believable despite being one of the smaller competitors. 

Randy Orton Addresses Gunther

Randy Orton came to the ring to talk about challenging Gunther for the world title at Bash in Berlin. The Ring General arrived a few minutes later to respond.

They traded some insults and jokes, but The Viper's mood changed when Gunther brought up his dad and grandfather. Before they could come to blows, Drew McIntyre's music hit and he walked to the ring.

Orton used the distraction to hit an RKO on Gunther. CM Punk showed up and attacked McIntyre. He used the Scot's own belt to whip him until he ran away through the crowd.

This was a good segment because it managed to address two completely different feuds without anyone's participation feeling forced.

The feud between Punk and McIntyre is far from over, but the story of Orton and Gunther is just heating up.

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Cole took a dig at the New York Mets on commentary.  
• Gunther was trying not to laugh at Orton's comment about his wife.  
• The Viper has a level of charisma you can't teach. 

The Miz vs. Bronson Reed

The Miz was booked in a match against Bronson Reed this week after the big man told Raw general manager Adam Pearce he would make more problems if he didn't get a real challenge.

Orton gave The A-Lister a pep talk earlier in the show.

They fought through a break and The Miz was doing better than expected. R-Truth cheered him on as he seemed to be building some momentum with a tornado DDT.

Inevitably, Reed recovered and hit a Tsunami for a win.

This was a simple match that told a simple story. It was fine for what it was, but it won't stand out.

Result: Reed defeated The Miz

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

• Punk indicated that he will be challenging McIntyre to a strap match during a backstage interview with Cathy Kelley. 
• Mark Henry and his son, Jacob, who is an NIL recruit, were in the crowd. 

Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker (IC Title)

This week's main event saw Zayn get a rematch against Breakker for the IC title, but this time it was in a 2-out-of-3 Falls contest.

The champ cornered the challenger after the bell, but it didn't take Zayn long to turn things around. He ended up scoring the first fall with a Helluva Kick to go up 1-0.

We returned from the final break with five minutes left in the show. Breakker scored a fall to tie the score after two Spears in a row. Zayn almost won with a crucifix, but it didn't keep the champion down.

One final Spear in mid-air allowed the IC champion to get the victory and retain his title.

This was the best of their three encounters, and it gave Breakker a good springboard into his next feud.

Result: Breakker defeated Zayn

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The backstage promos before an entrance work best if only used before big matches like this. 
• The way Breakker counters a leapfrog into a slam always looks great. 
• Zayn's Helluva Kick finishing Breakker was a little surprising. 
• The champion throwing Zayn into the timekeeper's area looked brutal. 
• Breakker's jumping clothesline from the apron to the announce table was awesome. 

The Final Word

This week's Raw had its ups and downs, but the good outweighed the bad enough to make it a show worth watching.

Seeing Priest and Ripley get a small measure of revenge against The Judgment Day was fun, but this story is far from being over and will likely last through the next pay-per-view or two.

The best match on the show was Breakker vs. Zayn in the main event, but the women's tag bout was also highly entertaining.

Orton and Gunther's segment was solid and led to Punk and McIntyre's interaction, so it accomplished two things at once.

Overall, this episode is right in the average range, but a hot crowd elevated it.

Grade: B