5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE Raw (August 1)

1. Winner: Randy Orton

Just as his night’s actions painted Brock Lesnar’s as Raw’s biggest loser, Randy Orton went home as its greatest victor. The Viper invaded Raw to do the one thing Paul Heyman said he’d never do - deliver an RKO to The Best Incarnate - and as the show went off the air, he was smiling, Brock was furious, and the crowd were in raptures.

It’s a huge victory for Orton. It’s widely assumed that he’ll take the loss at Summerslam, and with Lesnar’s two failed drug tests, it had become unclear how WWE were going to proceed with the feud. It appeared that Lesnar’s problems had sapped much of the match’s appeal, but if it did, Randy Orton recovered every last drop of it last night.

Against all odds, Randy Orton is “one up” on the most destructive force in WWE history. He’s still likely to lose at the pay-per-view, but segments like this will go a long way to ensuring Orton loses very little momentum when The Beast eventually pins his shoulders to the match and calls it a night.

WWE have successfully established Orton as a legitimate threat to Brock Lesnar when it was widely assumed he was no more than a patsy, which is an achievement in itself.

There have been some complaints about WWE violating the Brand Split’s sanctity by having Orton appear on Raw so soon, but his presence definitely enhanced the show. The company had to do something big to salvage what should be a marquee match, and such complaints feel short-sighted at this point. Orton’s presence ended a run-of-the-mill show on a high point, and that should be celebrated.