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From Edge accepting a rematch against Randy Orton to an obnoxious "axe-throwing" contest between Street Profits and The Viking Raiders, this week's edition of WWE RAW featured some contrasting moments.
Monday Night RAW was too silly in both good and bad ways this week. There were moments like Asuka's title celebration and The IIconics (Billie Kay, Peyton Royce) having a trademark meltdown, both moments which feel natural to the respective characters under consideration.
But then you have an axe-throwing contest between the top two teams in the RAW Tag Team Championship scenario, which is just an obvious ploy to attract attention.
Let us know what you thought about this particular episode in the comments section below.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE RAW (May 18, 2020).
#5: Austin Theory got kicked from Zelina Vega's faction on WWE RAW
For some reason, WWE chose to stir up some drama between all three members of Zelina Vega's heel faction (Andrade, Angel Garza, Austin Theory).
Apparently, Theory was always seen as a placeholder for Andrade in the eyes of Angel Garza and the United States Champion himself.
Zelina tried to keep them united while appearing on the Kevin Owens Show. As things got out of control, Apollo Crews returned and teamed with Owens to face Andrade and Angel Garza in tag-team competition.
Unfortunately, Theory's interference led to the downfall of his faction, as the babyfaces picked up the victory instead. This resulted in a scenario where Zelina, Garza & Andrade kicked him out of the faction immediately.
The whole ordeal seemed a little unnecessary, but it was an inevitable conclusion to the growing dissent amidst Vega's faction. However, Theory's downfall would lead to an important plot development later in the night.
That plot point came along with extra baggage in the form of Seth Rollins and his new agenda on WWE RAW.
#4: Seth Rollins welcomed Austin Theory to join his crew with open arms
As Austin Theory lay rejected in one corner, WWE's Monday Night Messiah entered the frame.
Murphy and Aleister Black were scheduled for a singles match, and Seth Rollins chose to divert his attention to Theory instead.
The production behind this segment was quite impressive. Without any extended verbal communication, the action conveyed everything perfectly. Rollins ordered Theory to attack Black, who was seconds away from defeating Murphy. When Rollins chose to embrace his new disciple several times, the camera cuts showed how Murphy may not be onboard with Theory joining them.
This is certainly an interesting conflict that WWE will explore in the next few episodes. Everything about Seth Rollins after WWE's Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View has been intriguing.
If last week's episode made you believe that the Messiah gimmick was dead, then this particular episode showed that is not the case.
Instead, Rollins thanked Rey Mysterio for helping him during a moment of crisis, which just shows that WWE's fraudulent Messiah has become a more efficient con artist now.
#3: Nia Jax interrupted Asuka's RAW Women's Title celebration
Whether its Kairi Sane playing the flute or the fact that Asuka still can't comprehend she is WWE RAW Women's Champion, The Kabuki Warriors amped up their silliness to a solid 10 on RAW this week.
Of course, the silliness had to be balanced with Nia Jax's intensity, who can bring Asuka's charisma to a halt at any given moment in WWE.
The Kabuki Warriors ganged up on WWE's Irresistible Force for the time being, but Jax schemed a sinister plan later, where she attacked Kairi when both members were in different places.
This prompted Asuka to plot revenge against Nia Jax, and that is exactly what the former got.
Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax were the top contenders for Asuka's RAW Women's title. The Queen of Spades was busy tapping out Natalya this week, which only meant that Jax had the opportunity to target Asuka.
The Empress of Tomorrow has a tough challenge at hand. Nia has been booked as an unstoppable force since her return, and it will be interesting to see how Asuka can topple Jax at such an early stage of her title run in WWE.
#2: The police broke up an "axe-throwing" competition between The Viking Raiders and Street Profits
Whether you liked this or not, WWE does know how to grab a viewer's attention by silly premises like this one.
I wasn't aware of this until today, but axe-throwing is an actual sport. The Viking Raiders took it one step further by introducing a Viking themed set for this competition. But the whole thing got obnoxious to a point where you knew this segment was supposed to elicit any sort of response from WWE fans.
They kept cutting to some random person on a horse for no reason at all, and I would be lying if I said the segment didn't earn a few unintentional laughs from my end too.
Apparently, the police broke up this affair right away, even though axe-throwing is an actual sport, it doesn't look like you can just practice it on a lawn with a bunch of Vikings camping nearby.
But the police offer found Ivar to be a "cute" individual, and let them get away with it. The whole premise may have been terrible for many WWE fans, but it certainly succeeded in grabbing one's attention.
#1: Bobby Lashley enters the WWE title picture
WWE's invitational challenge led to SmackDown's King Corbin fighting against the WWE Champion, Drew McIntyre, during the main event of this week's RAW.
On the other hand, MVP has been firing up Bobby Lashley backstage. This plot tease culminated in the main event, where Lashley finally joined forces with MVP to target the WWE Champion.
As expected, Corbin lost the bout after a Claymore Kick from Drew McIntyre. But the match itself was pretty good in its own right.
Lashley and MVP were scouting the WWE Champion from a safe distance, and the episode ended on a potential tease between a future Lashley vs. McIntyre contest in WWE. Both of them have crossed paths in TNA, and it will be interesting to see if that happens at WWE Backlash soon.
Not only is this a promising feud, but it also puts Lashley in the position he always should have been in. As Lana's backstage screams echoed throughout the Performance Centre, it looks like The All Mighty may have finally escaped the effects of a disastrous love triangle storyline from the past.
