5 things RAW got right on the episode after the Royal Rumble (January 27, 2020)

The night after the Royal Rumble is always an entertaining one, and this week’s Monday Night RAW was no different.

The two Royal Rumble winners from the Red brand were present at the show and were ready to announce who they’d like to face at WrestleMania. Both winners also had enough left in them to battle in matches during the night.

MVP, who made a surprise return on Sunday during the Royal Rumble, also came out to battle Rey Mysterio, leaving the fans to wonder whether he was back for good.

The RAW Tag Team Championships were on the line as Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe looked to dethrone Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy, while Aleister Black was out to prove a point once again.

The show capped off with the much-awaited appearance of Edge, which led to a very short Rated-RKO reunion.

In this article, we will look at the 5 things that RAW got right on the night after the Royal Rumble.

#5 Liv Morgan’s victory

Liv Morgan and Lana finally faced each other in a singles match this week. Fans were excited to watch Liv in particular, as they expected her to get a big push from this match and rivalry.

Without Rusev and Bobby Lashley by their sides, something felt missing throughout this match. Apart from that, the in-ring action was also not too good, which let down the hype surrounding this matchup.

Liv, however, got enough in this match to make her return feel worth it and to continue getting the support of the WWE Universe.

Once she picked up the victory over The Ravishing Russian, the commentator claimed that he didn’t think that their rivalry was over just yet, ensuring that this was just another match in a long rivalry.

The absence of the men took a lot out of this match and rivalry, so hopefully, the creative know where they are heading with this. However, Liv’s performance was good enough to help her emerge as a future star, and we hope she continues to get the push she deserves after waiting on the sidelines for so long.

#4 A vengeful Aleister Black

Buddy Murphy will need to install extra locks on his door

After disappointing fans during the 2020 Royal Rumble, Aleister Black appeared on Monday Night RAW. Buddy Murphy played an instrumental role outside the ring during the Rumble, which led to Black’s elimination. Black then helped Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens fight Murphy and the AOP out of the arena, leaving Seth Rollins helpless inside the match.

Aleister Black fought another unwilling victim who faded to black in mere seconds after receiving a Black Mass. He then took the microphone and decided that it was time to come out of his comfort zone.

For months, we’d watch Black asking his next challenger to come knocking on his door, but this week he made it clear that he was going after The Best Kept Secret himself.

Black vowed revenge on Murphy, and this could give us some of the best quality storylines and segments in the coming weeks.

It’s possible that WWE is holding Black back from joining Owens and Joe’s team since he doesn’t travel to Saudi Arabia and they may be planning a match between the two factions there.

However, WWE seems to have started the process which will lead to Black becoming a part of the rivalry, and ultimately squaring off against Seth Rollins somewhere down the line.

#3 Drew McIntyre’s build

The winner of the 2020 Royal Rumble match took a lot of punishment and the finishers of several Superstars to emerge victoriously. However, that did not stop him from opening Monday Night RAW and asking for a match upfront.

The man who was no less than a villainous heel not long ago got chants of “You Deserve It” from the crowds. He made it clear that half the guys in the locker room are afraid of Brock Lesnar but he is not. He then said that he believes he can defeat Lesnar at WrestleMania for the WWE Championship.

The O.C.’s Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows answered McIntyre’s call for a fight, and he accepted their challenge in the form of a handicap match.

He dropped Gallows with a headbutt and continued to punish Anderson, taking him to a Suplex City of his own. He finished off the Best Tag Team in the World with a Claymore Kick.

Lesnar then appeared to F5 the man who will challenge him for the title, showing the fans that maybe The Beast is afraid of McIntyre and had to resort to an attack.

This was an incredible way to build McIntyre who deserves the rise he is getting now and we should see Lesnar feel a bit uncomfortable knowing that The Scottish Psychopath could be his match.

#2 Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy’s titles

Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe were not looking to bow down to the Monday Night Messiah as they decided to confront Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy again.

Authors of Pain, who were backstage, were taken out by The Viking Raiders in hopes of making the match fair and allowing KO and Joe to fight the two heels without any interruptions.

While KO and Joe were doing a great job, a suicide dive by The Samoan Submission Machine from the ring to the outside on Murphy seemed to have injured the Superstar.

The medical staff had to take Joe out of the match, forcing KO to fend for himself. A big Frog Splash to Rollins almost allowed him to win the RAW Tag Team Championships, but the Monday Night Messiah kicked out.

Murphy managed to roll up KO for the count of three, retaining the titles for his team. This was a good tag team match that helped establish the rivalry between these two teams while allowing KO to come out strong even in defeat.

We hope that Joe is fine and will be competing again soon, and it’ll be great to watch the babyfaces take away the titles from Rollins and Murphy down the line.

#1 The Viper strikes

RAW held back the biggest return of the year until the final segment of the show. Edge made his return to the Red brand after a shock appearance during Sunday’s Royal Rumble match.

One of the men who he met during the Rumble match was none-other-than his former partner Randy Orton. The two worked together during the match for some time before Edge sensed that Orton was going to turn on him and eliminated The Viper from the match instead.

Edge’s appearance on RAW brought the WWE Universe on their feet again, as the Rated-R Superstar prepared to deliver an emotional promo.

Orton interrupted Edge and embraced his former tag team partner, signaling that they had no bad blood. The Viper called Edge his brother and termed him the only man who pulled him out of a path to self-destruction.

The Viper then asked Edge whether he thought of a potential Rated-RKO return, to which the fans erupted in chants of “YES!”

He shocked everyone by delivering the RKO to Edge, laying him down and blasting The Rated-R Superstar with a steel chair. He then teased crushing the Hall of Famer’s head and neck before getting two chairs to deliver a sickening con-chair-to.

This was an epic segment that topped almost anything we’ve seen all year. Not only does this make Orton the most villainous man in all of WWE again, but it also builds up towards one of the biggest rivalries we will witness this year.

Will the two men battle in Saudi Arabia, or will WWE hold out till WrestleMania 36 to give fans something they truly deserve?