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From Drew McIntyre overpowering Zelina Vega's crew to Bobby Lashley flipping some tires with Lana by his side, this week's edition of Monday Night RAW featured several contrasting moments.
The Red brand has fallen prey to developing a usual sense of monotony after their yearly WrestleMania event. SmackDown has fared better, thanks to some out-of-the-box creative ideas to keep their viewers hooked on Fridays.
It seems that despite the quantity of content featured on this week's episode, almost nothing important happened during last night's show.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE RAW (April 20, 2020).
#5: Lana was awestruck when Bobby Lashley flipped some tires
Bobby Lashley has been misused in WWE for a long time now.
We know that putting Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar in the same ring can be WWE's big-money idea, and even though no one expects that to happen in front of an empty arena, the company hasn't been receptive to that idea months before the pandemic occurred.
For some reason, Bobby Lashley just flipped some tires on RAW this week.
Lashley and Lana's onscreen relationship was gearing towards a breakup, judging by previous episodes. However, all of that tension was put aside for a bland series of short segments where Lana became awestruck at the sight of Lashley showcasing his strength by flipping tires.
There was nothing more to add to this one-dimensional segment.
It seems like nobody benefited from the Rusev-Lana-Lashley love triangle storyline after all. Rusev got released, and his real-life spouse is stuck with Lashley's character, whose creative trajectory seems to be heading nowhere.
But as it can be said for many things in WWE, it is never too late to turn things around for the better.
#4: Aleister Black, Apollo Crews, and Rey Mysterio have qualified for the Men's Money in the Bank Corporate Ladder Match
Aleister Black defeated Austin Theory to qualify for the 2020 Men's MITB Ladder Match.
This bout must have been an intriguing aspect of the show for internet fans, since Black is married to Zelina Vega in real-life, and Vega's onscreen personality manages Austin Theory as her client.
Clearly, Black and Vega's marriage will not be canon in WWE anytime soon.
Apollo Crews defeated MVP to qualify for the 2020 Men's MITB Ladder Match. The veteran did a good job of putting Crews over as a legitimate competitor, and even though MVP's character suits the theme of a "corporate" ladder match, Crews was the right pick here.
One can argue as to whether Rey Mysterio or Murphy should have qualified for this year's MITB Ladder Match. Murphy deserves that spot as much as the legend himself, but Mysterio's name value is enough to attract viewers in a high-spot specialty bout like a Ladder Match.
Mysterio proved that experience prevails over youth, as he defeated Murphy to secure his spot amongst Crews and Black on the same night.
#3: Liv Morgan defeated Ruby Riott to stand-out as the most successful member of The Riott Squad
Sarah Logan was one of the names who was released by WWE over the past week.
Ryan Satin had reported that one of the Superstars released by WWE was supposed to make an appearance on last night's RAW. Apparently, that person was Sarah Logan. For some reason, she didn't make the rumored appearance.
Perhaps she would have interfered during the singles match between Liv Morgan or Ruby Riott. Speaking of Liv Morgan, the former member of The Riott Squad defeated her ex-leader during the episode.
After The Riott Squad broke up, Morgan has achieved more fame than either of the two remaining members. It seems like Morgan's victory is an indicator of a big push in the future.
WWE has made sporadic attempts at showcasing her outside the title picture. Even though Liv hasn't reached the potential of being a legitimate competitor against Becky Lynch, she could be on that route if WWE fully invests in her from this point onwards.
If anything, Liv Morgan's victory helped her to break free from Ruby Riott's shadow.
#2: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler obliterated their opponents this week
In a rematch from last week, Kairi Sane faced Nia Jax once again.
Kairi managed to get Jax on one knee this time around, but that wasn't enough to keep The Irresistible Force down for good.
Since her return, Nia has been as dominant as one expected her to be. We know that Becky Lynch and Nia Jax have unfinished business against each other. Perhaps Nia's dominance indicates towards an eventual showdown between the two.
Shayna Baszler has also been on a belligerent streak since losing to Lynch at WrestleMania 36. Last week, it was Sarah Logan who was beaten to a point where she couldn't continue to fight The Queen of Spades.
This week, NXT’s Indi Hartwell was on the receiving end of Baszler's wrath.
A rematch between Baszler and Lynch for the RAW Women's title seems to be the most obvious choice WWE could make at the moment. After all, both women have also expressed that their rivalry is far from over.
But one has to wonder if Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax will collide on their route to become the top female champion of RAW.
#1: Drew McIntyre overpowered Zelina Vega's crew and challenged Seth Rollins to a match at Money in the Bank
Earlier in the show, Drew McIntyre challenged Seth Rollins to a title match at Money in the Bank. This all came about after Rollins stomped McIntyre at the end of last week's episode.
Zelina Vega's crew interrupted the WWE Champion. Vega has been one of the most prominently featured names on RAW ever since WWE relocated their shows to the Performance Center.
Clearly, the higher-ups have a lot of faith in her as the manager for Andrade, Angel Garza, and Austin Theory.
The main event saw Angel Garza pitted against Drew McIntyre and the latter looked unstoppable for the most of it.
Drew secured a victory after singlehandedly putting down every member of Zelina's crew. All three men are good secondary obstacles for the WWE Champion, but we know that the endgame revolves around Rollins and McIntyre.
Rollins accepted McIntyre's challenge during the episode and vowed to strip the WWE Champion of his gold for the greater cause.
For what it's worth, Drew McIntyre's natural presence as the WWE Champion has been one of the better aspects of RAW in recent times.
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