5 Opportunities WWE missed on this week's RAW - Change in title picture, new challenge for top Superstar? (April 13th, 2020)

This week's Monday Night RAW brought us the highest amount of in-ring action on WWE TV in some time. As compared to last week's edition, this iteration of the show hadn't been taped in advance and was shot live.

We had three qualifiers for the Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match in addition to individual matches for Aleister Black, Angel Garza, and Austin Theory. The Viking Raiders also competed in a tag team match against the high-flying duo of Ricochet and Cedric Alexander.

The night culminated with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and the United States Champion Andrade revisiting an old feud from their NXT days, with The Scottish Psychopath picking up the win. However, he was then laid out by Seth Rollins, who in all probability, is his next challenger for the WWE title.

Given the circumstances, WWE put up a decent show of the Red brand this week. However, there are still a few opportunities that they should have capitalized on this week but failed to. Let's look at the same.

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#5 Revealing the next challenger for Andrade's United States Championship

Andrade hasn't defended the Unites States title in some time now

Given the coronavirus pandemic, WWE is recording some of its lowest numbers for their weekly shows and understand so. However, they're expected to put their best foot forward to keep the fans invested. A good way to that would be to have one of their most credible heels on the RAW brand, defend his title more regularly.

Andrade has done a fantastic job since claiming the US title from Rey Mysterio. However, his last challenge came in the form of Humberto Carrillo at Elimination Chamber over a month ago. In fact, the United States Championship was the only title not defended at WrestleMania 36. Yes, Andrade missed the show due to rumored injury but even then so, he was scheduled only for a tag team match.

El Idolo formed a new faction with the likes of Angel Garza and Austin Theory on RAW this week. However, he needs to have a challenge of his own as the other two seem primed for tag team action. WWE has many Superstars who could do with a run at the mid-card title, such as Kevin Owens or Aleister Black. So WWE could've laid the breadcrumbs for Andrade's next feud today.

#4 Giving Kevin Owens' his next feud

KO is one of the biggest draws on Monday Night RAW

If you want to captivate the attention of the WWE Universe, all you have to do is give Kevin Owens the microphone. As good as he is while cutting promos, Owens is an impeccable in-ring performer too. So in difficult times like these, in addition to the momentum that he has after beating Seth Rollins, it makes little sense as to why KO wasn't on RAW this week.

Just last week on the RAW after WrestleMania, we saw Owens speak about his hard work and determination in a passionate segment. He even hinted at bringing his Prizefighter persona back. So why didn't we see him tough it out in the middle of the ring this week?

Given just how Kevin Owens is over with the fans right now, Vince and co. would do good to have him face some credible opponents before ultimately entering him into a title picture. Rollins seems to be the next in line for a shot at the WWE Championship. But surely KO deserves a run at the US title at least? The run could've been started this week.

#3 Building the hype for Money in the Bank

Not the most star-studded lineup for Money in the Bank qualifiers

WWE is infamously known for the post-WrestleMania slump, and that's going to be the situation this time too, given the restrictions that the company is operating within. However, the least that they can do is to hype up the upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view, which, in my opinion, has little allure to it as of now.

The three qualifiers for the women's ladder match were rather one-sided in nature and the line up of matches for next week isn't that appealing either. From the above poster, Aleister Black and Rey Mysterio seem like the only credible Superstars who could walk away with the briefcase. However, winning the MITB briefcase means an entry into the main event scene and I don't think either Superstar is best suited for the same right now.

I know that WWE don't have their entire roster at hand right now. However, the promos, at the very least, could have been better. Backstage clips involving the likes of Mysterio and MVP didn't really help the case.

#2 Building Ricochet and Cedric Alexander as a credible tag team

The duo had some momentum going after beating Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch last week

It would be fair to say that Ricochet has just kept on falling down the pecking order in the last few months. The One and Only seemed to have it all laid out for him when he won the United States Championship from Samoa Joe at Stomping Grounds last year.

However, he has gone on to bear several losses since then including the squash match against Brock Lesnar which more or less sent him to the back of the line. The story isn't much sweeter for Cedric Alexander, who has failed to get any consistency going.

So, when the two Cruiserweights teamed up last week to defeat the duo of Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, things started to look positive. Ricochet and Alexander looked ready to win more matches together and present themselves as legitimate contenders for the RAW Tag Team Championships.

However, a loss to The Viking Raiders has simply killed that momentum. Erik & Ivar are incredible competitors themselves, but they probably could've taken a loss this week. Only time will tell now whether Ricochet and Cedric Alexander continue to be a team of whether they'll be split up again.

#1 Increasing the rift between Lana and Bobby Lashley

Things are starting to go south between Lana and Lashley

The love triangle involving the likes of Lana, Bobby Lashley, and Rusev was probably WWE's weakest storyline last year. Lana and Lashley would eventually get Kayfabe married with the latter managing to overcome Rusev in a Tables match at TLC.

The angle has become rather annoying to watch of late with a ray of hope coming in the form of a rift between the couple. The All-Mighty doubted his on-screen wife's abilities as a manager after losing to Aleister Black at WrestleMania. On tonight's episode of the RAW, the situation reached a tipping point where Lashley asked Lana to shut up during the former's match with No Way Jose.

WWE could have gone ahead and allowed Jose to escape with a roll-up pin of sorts to increase tensions. Instead, the former Intercontinental Champion was able to pick up a win. A split between Lana and Lashley seems apparent and such has been the programming that when it happens, it would bring a smile on the faces of fans worldwide. So perhaps, WWE could have sped up the process last night.