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This week’s episode of RAW was entertaining as it had much more action, story, and drama as compared to many recent closed-door shows.
We saw some mid-card matches involving the newly formed tag team of Ricochet and Cedric Alexander who took on Shane Thorne and Brendan Vink. Apart from that, Bianca Belair also competed this week against Santana Garrett.
However, it was the Money in the Bank ladder match qualifying matches that stole the show this week along with the main event of the show where Drew McIntyre managed to send a loud and clear message to his next challenger.
Even though the show was really solid, we were left with a few major questions by the end of it all and are seeking answers from WWE and its Superstars.
In this article, we will look at the 5 biggest questions we have from this week’s episode of RAW.
#5 Why were Garza and Theory hesitant to follow Vega’s orders?
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre kicked off this week’s show with some words for Seth Rollins. McIntyre issued a challenge to Rollins for Money in the Bank and vowed to show The Monday Night Messiah what The Scottish Psychopath was capable of.
McIntyre’s challenger from last week, Andrade, interrupted him along with Zelina Vega, Angel Garza, and Austin Theory.
Vega exchanged some harsh words with McIntyre and the United States Champion tried to take down McIntyre with an attack. However, Garza and Theory refused to follow Vega’s orders of going in and helping Andrade lay down McIntyre after watching what was happening to Andrade.
This was an interesting segment that stripped down the new heel faction a week after it was built so strongly. Garza and Theory disobeying orders show that there’s a rift in the faction already, or they are not up to the challenge.
Last week, all three men came out strong after RAW even after Andrade lost his match to McIntyre. This week, however, all three men fell flat and were unable to live up to the hype they’d created last week.
So, why did this new heel faction fall flat in front of a single man after everything that was done to establish the team last week?
#4 Win on NXT, losses on RAW?
Last week on RAW, Akira Tozawa took a loss from Austin Theory and continued his string of losses on the Red brand.
However, he returned to NXT and competed in the Interim Cruiserweight Championship tournament against Isaiah 'Swerve' Scott and after an epic battle, managed to defeat the favorite.
This helped Tazawa gain a lot of momentum and hope to get back on his feet and become a big force.
This week on RAW, those hopes were shattered as he faced against the United States Champion, Andrade. Even though The Stamina Monster put up a good fight, he lost the match to Andrade.
While Tozawa put up an excellent performance, we can't help but wonder why he was made to lose on RAW while he's competing in a tournament that can spin his career around on NXT?
RAW could have surely used some other talent to give Andrade a good fight and lose to him rather than the former Cruiserweight Champion who is looking for another chance to get the title back.
Tozawa needs more wins to get across as a threat in WWE, and the loss after a big victory has hurt his chances on NXT too.
#3 Why did Murphy and Kairi Sane have to pick up losses?
Over the past few months, we’ve seen a few new stars like Austin Theory and Bianca Belair rise the ranks on RAW and deliver some great performances that can potentially take them to the top of the picture soon.
However, stars like Murphy and Kairi Sane who were once on the rise are getting some mixed bookings that are really hurting their character.
Murphy was aligned with Seth Rollins not too long ago and even picked up the RAW Tag Team Championships with ‘The Monday Night Messiah’.
However, he’s had one too many losses recently, and lost again this week as he looked to defeat Rey Mysterio to get a chance to reach the Money in the Bank Ladder match. Murphy has a few losses against Angelo Dawkins, and even failed in tag team action with Rollins and was off television for some time.
Kairi Sane too fell victim to Nia Jax this week after losing her previous singles match to Shayna Baszler quickly last month. She lost the Women’s Tag Team Championship with Asuka at WrestleMania, and while Asuka is still getting a lot of spotlight and some victories, Sane isn’t getting the same treatment.
This raises the question that what is next for these two talented young Superstars and why are they on the receiving end of such bookings while being aligned with two of RAW’s top stars who are doing much better? Will these losses hurt their partnership with the bigger stars?
#2 Can anyone stop Shayna Baszler?
Shayna Baszler has been stopping down on her opponent’s arms since she joined NXT. Whether it’s been Kairi Sane or Dakota Kai, the Cagefighter has shown no mercy as she has sent several Superstars out of action with her career-ending moves.
Recently, Baszler has shown an even more intense side to her as she stomped down on Sarah Logan’s arm last week, nearly breaking it in the process, and did the same with Indi Hartwell. Both times, the referee had to stop the match, and surprisingly the victory was awarded to The Queen of Spades who inflicted the irreversible damage to her opponents.
While Baszler her biggest opportunity at WrestleMania 36, she has gone on to show once again why she is unstoppable and the only woman worthy of taking away the RAW Women’s title.
With that in mind, is there anyone who can stand up to Baszler and prove to be an obstacle in her path? If not, then why did she not go on to win the title at WrestleMania and come across as the most dominant woman in WWE?
If WWE does have a plan for Baszler, then it should involve her winning the Money in the Bank briefcase. Anything else will severely hurt her character.
#1 Is pairing up as a tag team a long term solution for Ricochet and Cedric Alexander?
Ricochet and Cedric Alexander have had their moments on RAW, but they haven’t had as much success as Ricochet had on NXT and Alexander had on 205 Live.
However, both men had been getting some decent bookings on the main roster, and Ricochet even held the United States Championship for some time, followed by a shot at the WWE Championship.
However, both men were down and out for some time before the creatives decided to pair them up and make them a tag team. While they lost their first important match against Andrade & Angel Garza, they followed it up with a victory over NXT’s Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan.
Last week, the duo took a loss to former RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders, but they managed to score another victory over NXT’s Brendan Vink & Shane Thorne.
With that in mind, one wonders whether the duo have just been thrown together to silence the fans and keep the two babyfaces on screen without any real purpose. They’ve lost two important matches against tag teams from RAW, but managed to score victories over the visiting teams from NXT.
Will the duo find some purpose on RAW sooner than later or get in the Tag Team Championships scene in the days to come, or will they continue to battle random tag teams until the creatives find something to do for both the men?
