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From Lilly's origins to onscreen unmaskings, this week's edition of WWE RAW featured many contrasting moments.
The latest episode from the Red brand included a lot of plot points, but even then, the overall show felt weak in several aspects. WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and RAW Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Omos were not featured in this week's episode.
The buildup to next month's WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view should hopefully pick up the pace soon. Let us know your thoughts about this particular episode in the comments section below.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's WWE RAW (April 19, 2021).
#5 Randy Orton put over Riddle in singles competition during WWE RAW
Riddle seems to benefit whenever WWE's higher-ups change major plans these days. After all, that's how he won the United States Championship in February. Randy Orton was scheduled to face Braun Strowman this week. However, plans changed and WWE set up a match between Riddle and Orton instead.
Riddle interrupted Orton's backstage interview and pitched how they could form a tag team together — R-K-Bro. Keep in mind that this happened right after Orton talked about his WWE Championship pursuits and how The Fiend will no longer be seen on television.
As a result, Orton wanted to teach Riddle a lesson of respect inside the ring. Fortunately for The Original Bro, he defeated The Viper with a crucifix pin this week.
Clearly, Riddle has accomplished a huge feat in his first singles encounter with Randy Orton. Judging by their recent creative directions, Riddle just defeated someone who put down The Fiend at WrestleMania.
Could this lead to a feud between Orton and Riddle, or would The Fiend haunt The Viper once again? While a feud against Orton could be a good storyline for Riddle, Bray Wyatt's future on WWE RAW remains a mystery at the moment.
#4 Charlotte Flair went berserk after the main event of WWE RAW
Asuka and Charlotte Flair faced each other in one-on-one competition during the main event of WWE RAW.
Charlotte works better as a heel, and her character arc from this week's show was easily the best of the night. Meanwhile, Asuka is another contender for Rhea Ripley's WWE RAW Women's Championship.
Ripley was present at the ringside area during the main event. She played a significant role in pushing Charlotte over the edge. When the referee wasn't looking, Ripley sabotaged Charlotte's Figure Eight attempt.
Asuka capitalized on the distraction and rolled up The Queen to earn a victory.
It's no secret that Charlotte hates to lose opportunities, especially in situations where she boldly promises to win before the match itself. After her most recent loss, Charlotte crossed the line and attacked the referee.
Even after other officials tried to stop her, she continued the assault. This week's WWE RAW ended with Charlotte standing tall in the ring.
After the show, she was indefinitely suspended and fined a hefty sum of money for her actions.
Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley's singles rematch is bound to happen sometime this year. If the RAW Women's Championship bout at WrestleMania Backlash isn't a triple threat affair, Ripley will most likely prevail over Asuka and then focus on The Queen after the event.
#3 Alexa Bliss found Lilly years before she joined WWE
This week's Alexa's Playground segment on WWE RAW showcased the history between Alexa Bliss and her creepy doll, Lilly. A couple of pictures featuring Bliss and Lilly together from the former's childhood were shown on the screen.
Apparently, Bliss found Lilly as a child. The WWE Superstar recalled an instance where she attacked another kid because Lilly made her do it. Bliss also highlighted that the creepy doll didn't like The Fiend, which adds more reason as to why she betrayed Bray Wyatt's alter-ego at WrestleMania.
Towards the end of this segment, Alexa Bliss sent a warning to the RAW women's division. Lilly doesn't like members of the women's locker room either, which gives Bliss the motivation to play mind games with other female Superstars from this point onward.
One major dilemma with Alexa Bliss and Bray Wyatt's saga on WWE RAW is the "waiting game." Sure, the short segment featuring Bliss delivered some important information, but it left viewers wanting more.
While that isn't necessarily a bad formula, WWE has consistently maintained this strategy over the past few months, and a major chunk of the WWE Universe has run out of patience at this stage.
#2 Shayna Baszler threatened her tag team partner on WWE RAW
During this week's WWE RAW, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler wrestled Lana and Naomi in a tag team match. At one point, Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke came out to embarrass Jax with clips of the women's tag team champion being humiliated last week.
This enraged Jax, who left Baszler alone in the ring to pursue Rose and Brooke. As the babyfaces ran away, Baszler inevitably lost the match.
Later backstage, Rose and Brooke explained that they aren't bullies for teasing Jax in front of everyone. Instead, their actions only served as retribution for how Jax and Baszler mocked Rose's WrestleMania slip.
Jax chased away the babyfaces once again. Meanwhile, Baszler caught up with her tag team partner and urged her to refocus her attention.
The Queen of Spades has suffered as a result of Nia Jax's soap-operatic shenanigans. The former warned her tag team partner that there would be consequences if they can't get on the same page regarding their in-ring pursuits.
And out of nowhere, Angel Garza made a quick cameo to question if Reginald was truly the right sidekick for Jax.
Clearly, these silly developments haven't garnered praise from the WWE Universe. At this point, many fans think that Baszler should break away from tag team competition and focus on her singles career once again.
#1 T-Bar and Mace were unmasked during WWE RAW
This week's WWE RAW kicked off with Drew McIntyre calling out MVP. After former RETRIBUTION members, Mace and T-Bar ambushed McIntyre in the previous episode, many questioned whether they had joined The Hurt Business or struck a deal with MVP in some capacity.
MVP openly denied any affiliation with Mace and T-Bar this week. However, the two giants ambushed McIntyre once again, that too, in front of MVP.
This set up a two-on-one handicap match with McIntyre against T-Bar and Mace. But their clash ended in disqualification when the former RETRIBUTION members went out of control.
To even the odds, Braun Strowman showed up and defended McIntyre. As a result, a tag team match between the heels and babyfaces was booked immediately.
During the contest, there came a point where McIntyre pulled off Mace's mask and attacked him with it, leading to another disqualification finish. Strowman followed the trend and removed T-Bar's mask as well.
As the former RETRIBUTION members walked away, there seems to be one question in everyone's mind — will both of them go back to being Dominik Dijakovic (T-Bar) and Dio Maddin (Mace) once again?
The commentators conveniently forgot who T-Bar and Mace used to be when the masks came off. In general, it just goes on to highlight WWE's continuity problem. Back-to-back disqualification finishes in this scenario added a considerable level of fatigue for the viewers as well.
The core story between Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre remains a high-stakes situation. But there is a lot of scope for improvement regarding the subplots that surround the WWE Championship picture on RAW.
Do check out the latest edition of 'Legion of RAW' with Dr. Chris Featherstone and former WWE Head Writer Vince Russo in the video embedded above.
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