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From a No. 1 contender's main event for the WWE title to a bizarre segment with Randy Orton, this week's edition of WWE RAW featured many contrasting moments.
The fallout episode of RAW after Elimination Chamber successfully delivered in terms of the show's top title scenario. Despite the usual faults, it was quite an enjoyable episode, as a whole. The show felt like an optimistic start to the buildup for WWE Fastlane.
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 episode of WWE RAW (February 22, 2021).
#5 Randy Orton spat out a mysterious black liquid on WWE RAW
Randy Orton couldn't focus on his WWE title aspirations at Elimination Chamber, and he blamed Alexa Bliss for the same.
Bliss didn't interrupt during the Elimination Chamber match, but Orton's mind was somewhere else at the pay-per-view. As a result, he was the first one to be eliminated from WWE RAW's Chamber contest.
During this episode, The Viper responded to Alexa's surreal segment from last week's RAW. Orton discarded The Fiend as a non-factor because he burned the supernatural entity during their Firefly Inferno match last year. Soon, Bliss made her presence felt without appearing on the show, as Orton coughed up some black gunk backstage.
As usual, the commentators looked puzzled in the least interesting manner possible.
Coincidentally, it was during the episode of RAW after Royal Rumble when Bliss appeared with black liquid oozing out of her mouth. Perhaps it foreshadowed Orton's fate on the recent episode of RAW, which took place only several hours after Elimination Chamber.
In recent weeks, this storyline has taken a minimalistic approach. With every passing episode, WWE fans hope that Bray Wyatt will return someday. Until then, it's tough to predict what else Bliss could have in store for The Viper.
#4 WWE teased some tension between Charlotte Flair and Asuka
Lacey Evans is legitimately pregnant, which has changed the course of Charlotte Flair's arc on WWE RAW.
This week, Flair teamed up with Asuka to wrestle the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler. The babyface duo couldn't secure the victory, due to a miscommunication between Asuka and Charlotte towards the end of the bout.
After the match, it became evident that things weren't smooth between The Queen and The Empress of Tomorrow.
Later, Charlotte Flair confronted Ric Flair in a backstage segment. She made it clear that her performances were being affected by The Nature Boy's shenanigans on RAW. Charlotte Flair also brought up a moment from the previous episode when Ric Flair pretended that he was the father of Evans' unborn child. While The Nature Boy said that he was only trying to be a mentor to Evans, his own daughter did not see it that way.
Charlotte Flair clearly wants to move past this family feud and focus on her WWE career. If WWE's higher-ups have put an end to Charlotte Flair's storyline with her father, the next logical step for The Queen would be to go after Asuka's title.
#3 Damian Priest protected Bad Bunny's status as the WWE 24/7 Champion
The WWE 24/7 Championship has gone mainstream since Bad Bunny won the title last week. Bad Bunny displayed the title during his recent performance on Saturday Night Live, and he arrived with it on RAW.
Damian Priest and Bad Bunny were in the backstage area this week, as they spotted R-Truth nearby. R-Truth was lurking around with a referee, but Priest scared off the former multi-time 24/7 titleholder.
Priest wrestled Angel Garza on WWE RAW. The former was able to pick up the victory in their singles rematch.
Bad Bunny was in his ally's corner, which is why several stars ran out after the match to pin Bad Bunny. Their attempts were thwarted by Priest, and Bad Bunny threw out Drew Gulak as well.
The 24/7 title may not change hands anytime soon, which makes sense because Bad Bunny does bring in some mainstream attention to RAW. As for Priest, he is eligible to challenge The Miz for the WWE Championship. After all, the former NXT star defeated Miz on the Red brand earlier this month.
#2 Braun Strowman wanted a shot at the WWE Championship on RAW
Braun Strowman wasn't happy about being left out of WWE RAW's Elimination Chamber match, and he confronted The Miz and Bobby Lashley this week.
Lashley and The Miz were involved in a series of segments throughout the night. At Elimination Chamber, The A-Lister had successfully cashed-in his MITB contract to become WWE Champion thanks to Lashley's assistance. According to their business arrangement, Lashley was supposed to be first in line to get a world title shot against The Miz.
As expected, The A-Lister delayed the inevitable as long as he could. When Strowman entered the scenario, Shane McMahon decided to intervene. Thankfully, McMahon made it clear Strowman won't be getting a world title shot just because he asked for one.
Instead, Strowman and Lashley were booked to clash in the main event of this week's WWE RAW. If Lashley won the match, he would get to face The Miz for the WWE title next week. If Strowman won, a triple threat match for the world title would be booked between all three competitors.
This was an intriguing hook for the rest of the episode. It felt like a fresh change of pace from Drew McIntyre and Alexa Bliss/Randy Orton's main event presence on RAW.
#1 Bobby Lashley earned his well-deserved spot for a WWE Championship match against The Miz
The main event of this week's WWE RAW was a short and entertaining clash between the titans. Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman fought in a hard-hitting match that could have gone either way.
The powerhouses went to war, but it was Lashley whose durability pushed him as the better competitor out of the two. The former United States Champion was able to overcome Strowman's threat in the main event. As a result, Lashley vs. The Miz will go down next week on RAW.
After their match, Lashley assaulted Strowman again to send a message to The Miz. The A-Lister tried to interfere, but he was beaten down by Lashley as well.
The All Mighty posed with the WWE Championship after a dominant display on RAW. Additionally, Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin had defeated The Lucha House Party earlier in this episode. So it was a great night for The Hurt Business, in general.
Lashley's gradual resurgence to the top of WWE has been an excellent arc on Monday Night RAW.
The Miz's inability to become a strong champion adds a lot of intrigue to the program as well. This is because The Miz's weakness could result in a title change at any time, which makes every episode of RAW an important one. The only way he can escape with his title next week against Lashley is through some shenanigans. Could Drew McIntyre return during next week's episode to influence the WWE title match in some way?
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.
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
