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From a twisted main event match between Randy Orton and Kevin Owens to a brawl between Shayna Baszler and Becky Lynch, this week's edition of Monday Night RAW featured several contrasting moments.
The episode was quite average over the course of three hours. Some segments and storylines yielded a good crowd reaction, but it is the relative safeness in terms of booking on RAW - as compared to SmackDown - that makes the show less engaging during several instances.
A weekly show always needs to buildup on new conflicts and ideas, and even if those ideas are good or bad, people will watch if something different than usual occurs on the episode.
What were your thoughts on this episode in general? Let us know in the comments section below.
Here are the 5 biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE RAW (February 24, 2020).
#5: Aleister Black targeted AJ Styles after defeating Erick Rowan
Before an Aleister Black vs. Erick Rowan rematch could take place inside the ring, Black was assaulted by The O.C. in a 3-on-1 attack backstage.
As Black limped to the ring a few moments later, it seemed as if Rowan would pick up the victory this time around.
After a hard-fought battle, Aleister Black dropped Erick Rowan with a double dose of his signature "Black Mass" maneuver,
Upon exiting the stage, Black challenged AJ Styles to a match next week.
This is a great opportunity for Aleister Black to showcase his perfected skills when it comes to a TV-Style of wrestling, that too, in front of one of the greatest in-ring workers of all time.
With rumors circulating that Styles is set to face The Undertaker at this year's WrestleMania, it would be curious to see whether Aleister Black would come out on top of this feud or not.
#4: Drew McIntyre revealed a human side to his character's struggle on the Road to WrestleMania 36
WWE is at its best when characters grow organically over time.
From being "The Chosen One" to joining forces with Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal as part of the 3MB, Drew McIntyre's initial run with WWE could be seen as a drastic decrease in quality over time.
He was supposed to be the one to reach the top, but somewhere along the way, everything went wrong for the character when it comes to the main event scene.
Fast forward to 2020, Royal Rumble Winner Drew McIntyre is set to face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania 36. But McIntyre didn't transform into a ripped and even more charismatic version of himself overnight.
This struggle spanned over several years, and finally, fans got to witness the ideal version of Drew McIntyre that was supposed to rock the main event scene in the first place.
All of this was highlighted in an exclusive interview with Charly Caruso during the episode, and whether or not there will be a major hurdle for him on the Road to WrestleMania 36, you can see that McIntyre is at his charismatic best every week since the Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View.
#3: Kevin Owens beat up a corrupted referee at the end of the episode
Randy Orton opened the show to explain and apologize for his actions against Edge. While The Viper may have not fully explained what caused him to snap against one of WWE's most celebrated legends a few weeks ago, Canada's own, Kevin Owens came out to question the sincerity of Orton's apologies.
Their confrontation led to a main event singles contest after all.
This match was bound to end in shenanigans right when Seth Rollins and his crew showed up during the main event.
But it didn't end the way we thought it would.
As it turned out, the referee executed a very quick 3-count to hand the victory to Randy Orton.
Seth Rollins took the opportunity to encourage Randy Orton into delivering a con-chair to Kevin Owens. But that didn't pan out when Owens took charge of the situation.
The referee turned out to be a follower of Seth Rollins, and it was comical to see The Monday Night Messiah deny any form of association with the corrupted ref.
Kevin Owens slammed the referee through a table in a feel-good ending to a mixed episode of RAW.
#2: Becky Lynch and Shayna Baszler brawled during a chaotic Elimination Chamber Contract Signing segment
All participants except Shayna Baszler arrived during the Contract Signing Session for the Women's Elimination Chamber Match this year.
The Queen of Spades did show up after everyone else was done singing the contract.
A Natalya-Baszler match was teased briefly. Even Asuka put herself into the equation for a future match against Shayna Baszler.
As expected, chaos ensued soon after. Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan's storyline was also highlighted for a short while during this brawl. It would be safe to assume that all members of The Riott Squad - including Sarah Logan - will have a moment during the Elimination Chamber Match itself.
But all the focus was steered towards Baszler and Becky Lynch when The Man came out to lay her hands on The Queen of Spades.
This feud seems to be quite hot in terms of momentum right now. People wanted to see both of these women go at it during the episode itself.
Shayna also seems to be the downright favourite to win the Elimination Chamber match, so there will be plenty of time for Lynch and Baszler to get involved in wild brawls over the course of the next few months.
#1: Paul Heyman provided an alternate scenario for Ricochet before putting over Brock Lesnar in the most definite way possible
Paul Heyman is a great hype-man for any upcoming matches featuring The Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar.
It is also true that his promos tend to be repetitive in a good way. No one else can put over Brock Lesnar's credibility like Paul Heyman on the mic.
We know that Ricochet has minimal chances of winning the WWE Championship at the Super ShowDown Pay-Per-View. So it didn't help that Heyman almost confirmed that Lesnar will surely be retaining his gold in Saudi Arabia this Thursday.
But Heyman also talked about how Ricochet's unlikely victory could change the landscape of Monday Night RAW and WrestleMania 36 at the same time.
Drew McIntyre stated that it doesn't matter who walks out as the ultimate champion from the Pay-Per-View. But we all know that the big money match will always be McIntyre vs. Lesnar at the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Essentially, everything about Brock Lesnar's match against Ricochet points towards being a filler program on the Road to WrestleMania 36. But it would be shocking to see Ricochet walk out as the WWE Champion, as Paul Heyman briefly mentioned in a mostly pro-Lesnar promo this week.
