WWE RAW: What we learned from the last episode by reading between the lines (29/4/2019)

Another rather bleak episode of WWE RAW has been concluded as we go one step closer to the Money in the Bank PPV. The RAW participants have been revealed as Braun Strowman, Ricochet, Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre, and they are set to be in the men’s ladder match of MITB.

Meanwhile in the women’s division, Natalya, Dana Brooke, Naomi and Alexa Bliss were announced as the participants. Apart from that, there was nothing much going on with the only highlights being Bray Wyatt’s Firefly Fun House promo and the contract signing segment of AJ Styles and Seth Rollins.

Heck, they didn’t even give Robert Roode some TV time after his ‘glorious’ re-introduction on last week’s RAW. Even then, however, there were some things that we learned by reading between the lines on RAW.

And here are 5 of them…

#5 Usos to feud with Revival?

While the 'shaving' promo itself was very good, the events surrounding it make little sense. After their match against The Club (why fight them in the first place when you are set to feud with The Revival?), The Usos showed a backstage segment on the screen that displayed Dash Wilder shaving the back of Scott Dawson.

The pair were being ridiculed by The Usos in front of the WWE Universe, which is when the duo came out to defend themselves. They also added that they would get back to The Usos later as they had a match against RAW Tag Team Champions, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins.

Again, what was the point of the whole thing if they were going to face different opponents (and also the fact that Revival don’t have the Tag Team Titles on them, making it a rather absurd non-title angle)?

Anyway, it looks like there is going to be more of this between The Usos and The Revival.

#4 Joe-Strowman scrapped?

Brawn Strowman became the first man from RAW to be included into the Money in the Bank ladder match. After that, he paired up with Ricochet to take on the team of Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre.

Meanwhile, Samoa Joe fought against Rey Mysterio in a non-title match. It seems like the underwhelming match between the two at WrestleMania has made WWE continue the feud until Money in the Bank at least.

This is quite absurd because a week prior to the Superstar Shake-up, Brawn Strowman went to SmackDown to attack Samoa Joe. At the time, it seemed WWE had something in mind for the two.

The idea was further strengthened when Joe was drafted to RAW but it seems like we won’t get the two pitted against each other for a while at least.

There was some potential here but it is quite sad to see it being scrapped.

#3 Bray Wyatt’s new gimmick is intriguing

Man, just give this man a standing ovation. Bray Wyatt is perhaps the most naturally gifted performer in the WWE. The man just completely reinvented himself after almost a year off.

While the first episode of Firefly Fun House courted a lot of doubts, Wyatt nailed it once again in the second episode. We get a deeper look into his character and now it is apparent that his new gimmick is going to be the darkest version the character has ever been.

On RAW, he introduced the third character of his show, Rambling Rabbit, and drew a painting which depicted a house being burned, very much reminiscent of the scene when Wyatt Compound was burned to the ground by Randy Orton.

His mannerisms and the signs from the painting show that this character will just go on to get darker and darker with each passing segment and I for one can’t wait to see how it pans out.

#2 McIntyre turns face?

It is quite difficult to be a heel in this day and age of social media, where the true personality of a WWE Superstar is displayed. There were a lot of great villainous characters back in the day of the Attitude Era but it is very difficult to be the bad guy in this time.

I mean, when AJ Styles turned heel by attacking John Cena along with The Club, he was cheered by the fans – and that is not a reaction WWE want for heels. Whereas, at his peak, Roman Reigns – a face – was heavily booed by the WWE Universe.

In this regard, Drew McIntyre is absolutely perfect. He is respected by the WWE Universe but they also booed him when he came out on RAW last night. He is the most dominant villain on RAW but did he turn face last night when he attacked Baron Corbin (one of the most disliked Superstars in WWE) and set him up for a running powerslam from Braun Strowman and a shooting star press from Ricochet?

We’ll see in the coming weeks but I really hope that that is not the case as McIntyre is not only compelling as a ‘bad guy’, his character arc still has a lot to give.

#1 Heel turn coming?

We have spoken of a face turn in the previous slide and now it is time to speak of a villainous turn that might be incoming on RAW in the upcoming weeks. The last segment of last night’s RAW saw AJ Styles in a war of words with Seth Rollins during the contract signing moment.

During his promo, Styles mentioned that he is willing to do “unexpected” things to get something that he really wants – which is the WWE Universal Title. If that wasn’t a good enough sign of Styles teasing a heel turn, then you can’t overlook the fact that he was the first to attack Rollins after the Universal Champion refused to shake hands with the former WWE Champion.

Also, if it isn’t Styles that goes to the dark side then WWE could pull the trigger on Rollins. But this option is unlikely given that The Architect is very over with the fans.

However, rest assured, one of them is turning heel.