7 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (8 Aug)

1. Ciampa Falls To Lashley In Great US Title Fight

Ciampa's Harley Race tribute was a nice touch last night. The inaugural United States Champion, who passed away almost three years to the day, helped give last night's challenger his first start in the business. Triple H is a known Race devotee, too, which may explain why Ciampa was able to go all in not only with his pre-match promo, but with Harley's red and blue robe as well.

Framing The Miz on a similar level to Harley Race? Less convincing, but anyway.

Ciampa vs. Bobby Lashley ruled hard. Comfortably the best thing on a solid episode of Raw, it dealt with its interference spots well, with Miz only momentarily successful in his interjections before being ran off by AJ Styles. And beyond that window-dressing, it was an effective and often explosive styles and size clash, with the United States Champion controlling with his power game, forcing Ciampa to adopt an evasive game plan of chop blocks, counters, and shortcuts.

The challenger ate a lot from the champion, including his version of a Stormbreaker, though Bobby had plenty to overcome himself. He escaped the Gargano Escape (in Cleveland, no less), kicked out of the Willow's Bell, and endured having his skull rammed into an exposed turnbuckle several times. From his own arsenal, only the Hurt Lock was enough to finally stem a spirited challenge from a game opponent.

Triple H's reframing of the United States Title as an important prize worth fighting for has been a big highlight over the past few weeks. This was the case again here. Great, competitive matches between skilled, game wrestlers will go a long way.