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WWE RAW wasn't the best show or the worst show this week, but it was an important show during a part of the year which is generally not traditionally very eventful. This episode of WWE RAW was the calm before the storm, where all the pieces were set in place for the carnage to come.
So, as is customary here at Sportskeeda Wrestling, we bring you the essential 'best and worst' article following the show, for your reading pleasure and entertainment. Be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you thought about this week's episode of WWE RAW in the comments section below, ladies, and gentlemen.
In the year 2020, it is very difficult to retain someone's attention for a period of three whole hours (most movies that take months to film don't run that long), so how did WWE RAW fare?
#1 Best: Randy Orton is back in the title hunt after the WWE RAW main event
Randy Orton needed a big win on WWE RAW after the loss that he suffered at the hands of Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam and then at the hands of Keith Lee at Payback. And he won in spectacular fashion, after both he and Seth Rollins ensured that Keith Lee ended up looking like the next big thing, once the match was done and dusted on WWE RAW.
It was great to see just how dirty Randy Orton played in his quest to get the title shot, considering that an alliance between him and Aleister Black, who just turned heel was teased earlier in the night. However, it seems like a temporary alliance, because in the WWE RAW main event, even Seth Rollins alluded to a similar kind of partnership.
#1 Worst: The 24/7 Championship picture on WWE RAW has just run its course by now
The 24/7 Champion Akira Tozawa was refused entry into the arena where WWE RAW was taking place because the parking attendant was actually a referee in disguise. This would have been entertaining a few months ago, but we really need to get the 24/7 Championship off WWE RAW and onto some other brand, so that R-Truth can mix it up with some other individuals.
It's just the same thing over and over again on WWE RAW and as funny as R-Truth is (and Tozawa is), you can only laugh at the same joke so many times. In fact, it may do him a world of good to go over to NXT for a while and maybe give some of the talents in the roster the rub by having them win the title too. If nothing else, it will freshen up the feud with Akira Tozawa when R-Truth returns to WWE RAW with the Championship at some point in the near future.
#2 Best: Titus O'Neil makes a dominant return to WWE RAW, as a performer on RAW Underground
Titus O'Neil has always been a physical specimen but unfortunately, he has never been utilized to his fullest potential. Titus Worldwide had promise and so did the Prime Time Players, but unfortunately what got this talented WWE RAW Superstar the most amount of fanfare was how he slid and fell with a GIF that went viral. However, if anyone has benefited from the whole WWE RAW Underground experiment thus far, it has to be Titus O'Neil who looked like an absolute beast.
Well, The Hurt Business had a dominant showing in the MMA-style environment as one would expect if you have WWE RAW Superstar Bobby Lashley as a part of your stable, and Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke had a good showing as well.
It will be very interesting indeed to see what future plans for Titus O'Neil are, and if indeed a win on WWE RAW Underground means a flourishing WWE career over the long haul as well.
#2 Worst: Splitting up The IIconics, the only real tag team in the WWE RAW Women's Division wasn't the best step
Yes, the fact that The IIconics split up on WWE RAW may not necessarily be a bad thing per se considering that Shawn Michaels became a legendary performer after The Rockers went their separate ways, Edge and Christian both did well after they split up, and so did Matt and Jeff Hardy over the course of their careers. It just shows you how little value is attached to the women's tag team division overall, because the only real tag team on WWE RAW has been split up. Of course, there are makeshift teams like Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax and semi-makeshift teams like the reunited The Riott Squad on WWE RAW right now, but The IIconics were the only specialist tag team in the entire division.
Will either of the two gain success as a singles competitor?
It's difficult to predict right now, but one has to assume that the WWE RAW think tank has plans for them.
#3 Best/Worst: Everything with RETRIBUTION and the WWE RAW Tag Team Division
One has to hope that there is an endgame in sight for RETRIBUTION because even though they are a dominant force in WWE RAW at the moment, the charm seems to be wearing off. That said, it was really a hilarious sight to see Angel Garza running away with Demi from The Bachelor when RETRIBUTION invaded WWE RAW and later, running away from her when they came across the evil faction in the closing moments of WWE RAW.
But the one thing to take stock of is that as good as the matches between The Street Profits, Angel Garza, and Andrade are, there is no depth to the tag team division beyond these teams. The Viking Raiders are doing their own thing with Cedric Alexander and Ricochet, and both teams are babyfaces.
Be sure to check out this interview with Drew McIntyre conducted some time ago in which he spoke about wanting to feud with Randy Orton on WWE RAW someday. How cool is it that this feud is finally happening?
