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Despite its faults, WWE RAW ended up being a decent show this week. In recent memory, the Red brand has delivered a few critically panned episodes. Compared to that standard, the latest edition of Monday Night RAW fared slightly better.
Most importantly, this week's show included some interesting developments that will inevitably affect the future to some extent. Mansoor's appearance on the show is an example of the same. But not all such advancements were met with widespread acclaim from fans and critics alike.
Let us know your thoughts about this particular episode in the comments section below. Here are the five biggest news stories from WWE RAW (May 3, 2021).
#5 "The Eva-lution" is coming soon to WWE RAW
This week's RAW featured a vignette that confirmed Eva Marie's imminent return to WWE, leading to mixed reactions from fans across social media.
Many already know about Marie from her initial WWE run that ended in 2017. Now that she will appear on WWE television after a four-year absence, there are numerous possibilities for her on the Red brand.
During her most recent vignette, Marie spoke about her ambitions as an influencer in the promotion. The entire promo seemingly indicated that Marie's diva-esque persona is here to stay.
It's no secret that Eva Marie has been a polarizing figure throughout her WWE run. After all, her onscreen character represents a very different mentality compared to that of a professional wrestling purist. In an era where the in-ring product has significantly advanced, many fans believe Marie doesn't fit in the current landscape of WWE.
Additionally, WWE recently released a couple of fan-favorite female stars. The timing of it all has led to obvious comparisons between Eva Marie and talents like Billie Kay, Peyton Royce and Mickie James.
But Marie's return to the company can be perfectly summarized with the phrase, "controversy creates cash." All it took was a short vignette, and she has already become a trending topic among the WWE Universe.
#4 AJ Styles and Omos returned during WWE RAW
WWE fans missed AJ Styles and Omos, judging by their reactions on social media when the duo was consciously absent from weekly programming following WrestleMania 37.
The RAW Tag Team Champions returned to the Red brand, but their homecoming was ruined by The New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston). This led to a WrestleMania rematch between the two teams with the titles at stake. Styles and Omos solidified their stance as the reigning champions after they defeated Woods and Kingston once again.
The current rivalry between these teams seems to have come to a conclusive end for the time being. But then again, WWE could stretch this feud for several weeks just like the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship program between The Dirty Dawgs and The Street Profits.
While The Viking Raiders must step up to Styles and Omos at some point down the line, WWE lived up to their recent reputation and broke up another tag team this week.
Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander have been on a downward spiral since being kicked out of The Hurt Business. They lost to the Lucha House Party during the most recent edition of RAW, and Alexander addressed his tag team partner, dropping a bombshell in the process.
He blamed Benjamin for being the weak link between them and effectively conveyed that he was done teaming up with the veteran.
Just like that, WWE hit the undo button on a significant portion of The Hurt Business' initial creative goals. Additionally, AJ Styles and Omos have one less duo to feud against in an already deficient tag team division.
Despite the recent trend with WWE breaking up tag teams, let's hope there will be a clear direction for Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin's careers moving forward.
#3 Randy Orton's experience with rotten tomatoes continued R-K-Bro's saga on WWE RAW
Last week, Elias, Jaxson Ryker, John Morrison and The Miz were attacked by a bunch of flying tomatoes on WWE RAW.
WWE continued the silly trend on this week's show. Elias and Ryker tried to gain some payback against Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods during a backstage segment. While launching a few rotten tomatoes towards The New Day, the fruit attack unexpectedly hit Orton instead.
Clearly, it's no joke when you throw a bunch of tomatoes towards the man who burned The Fiend. So how exactly would Orton gain payback?
Of course, this situation led to another team-up between The Viper and Riddle, who fought Elias and Ryker inside the squared circle. Given Orton and Riddle's popularity with the fans, there was no way their opponents stood a chance of winning the bout.
With one more victory in the bag, R-K-Bro's saga shall continue on WWE RAW. Randy Orton and Riddle's partnership is still a volatile situation that could lead to a betrayal, but R-K-Bro should stay afloat for a while.
After all, Orton has rarely had any defining moments as a pseudo-babyface, although this particular storyline is slowly changing that dynamic.
#2 Charlotte Flair got added to the WWE RAW Women's Championship match at WrestleMania Backlash
Charlotte Flair maintained her status in the top title scenario during this week's WWE RAW. As they all say, some things never change.
After defeating Mandy Rose last week, Charlotte faced Dana Brooke on the latest episode of RAW. As expected, The Queen picked up a victory over Rose's tag team partner.
After the bout, Sonya Deville arrived at the scene. Charlotte asked to be inserted into the RAW Women's Championship clash at WrestleMania, and even Deville agreed with her.
Rhea Ripley and Asuka were furious over Charlotte's inclusion in their title match. As the three women cut promos, a brawl broke out between them, with Asuka standing tall this week.
As much as The Queen gets criticized for constantly being in the title picture, her current stint on the Red brand seems intriguing. Sonya Deville has essentially used Charlotte Flair to subtly challenge Adam Pearce's authority in WWE.
In addition to that plot thread, Charlotte could also end up being the catalyst behind Deville's return to in-ring action in the future.
#1 Drew McIntyre influenced a major outcome at the end of WWE RAW
WWE Champion Bobby Lashley fought Braun Strowman in a non-title main event during this week's RAW. Keep in mind that Strowman only entered the top title scenario at WrestleMania Backlash because of some shenanigans, which indirectly affected Drew McIntyre's stint to some extent.
As a result, The Scottish Warrior influenced the outcome of the main event this time around. A distraction from McIntyre allowed Lashley to win the match. But after the contest was over, McIntyre Claymore kicked Lashley and Strowman to stand tall at the end of the episode.
On next week's RAW, the WWE Champion will collide against his WrestleMania opponent — Drew McIntyre. A rematch between these two rivals is surely a significant encounter. The only way it could lose that importance is if anyone decides to interfere in some form.
WWE doesn't usually take risks when it comes to portraying a clear winner from a major feud a few days before the pay-per-view. As a result, stars like MVP, Braun Strowman, Mace and T-Bar could get involved in McIntyre and Lashley's clash six days before WWE WrestleMania Backlash.
In your opinion, what will be the outcome of Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre next week? Sound off in the comments section below.
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.
