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WWE managed to deliver a good final pay-per-view for the year, but there’s still a lot more action and drama left to consume before 2021 begins. On WWE RAW this week, the brand threw together a match between Jaxson Ryker and Gran Metalik that seemed very hurried and impactful. That wasn’t all, as WWE RAW left some fans puzzled by handing the extremely talented Drew Gulak a loss against Angel Garza.
On the other hand, Mercedes Martinez returned to WWE NXT after some time away from the ring to ignite a rivalry with NXT Women's Champion Io Shirai. While it was expected that Toni Storm would compete against Shirai soon, NXT took the bold decision of making a swerve.
Finally, WWE SmackDown crowned a new Intercontinental Champion after hosting a Lumberjack Match between Sami Zayn and Big E. However, it was the Steel Cage match that took place on SmackDown that left fans with a few questions.
Let's take a look at the 5 of the biggest questions coming out of this week's episodes of RAW, NXT, and SmackDown.
#5 Is Ricochet finally going to join RETRIBUTION on WWE RAW?
Ricochet has been struggling a lot in WWE over the past couple of months. The Superstar reached main event status earlier this year and faced Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship, but he’s failed to stay at the top.
Currently, the high-flyer is in a rivalry against his former friend Mustafa Ali and his heelish faction known as RETRIBUTION. After losing a match to Ali on WWE RAW at the beginning of November, Ricochet has now lost against all male members of the faction. Last week, T-Bar was the last man from RETRIBUTION to defeat The One and Only.
Ali has been pressing Ricochet to join RETRIBUTION, and his current run could force him to think about his standing in WWE. Last week after WWE RAW, Ricochet appeared on RAW Talk after his loss to T-Bar and claimed that he had some serious thinking to do about his status on the brand.
Will his current standing on the brand force him to join RETRIBUTION before the beginning of 2021? Seeing how Ali has benefitted from becoming the leader of the faction, Ricochet’s inclusion could help RETRIBUTION gain a little more popularity.
Seeing where the faction stands today, Ricochet’s inclusion could help all the other members gain more prominence and also create a story within the group. It is also a good way for the talented Superstar to continue appearing on WWE RAW rather than on Main Event. Is Ricochet finally going to join RETRIBUTION on the upcoming episode of WWE RAW?
#4 Will Asuka be getting into a rivalry for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship soon?
At WWE TLC, Charlotte Flair returned to the ring after a six-month break to fill in Lana’s position and team up with Asuka. That wasn’t all, as Asuka and Charlotte managed to defeat Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax to become the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Following a slow start on the main roster, Asuka has managed to become very successful on both WWE RAW and SmackDown. After winning the Money in the Bank Ladder Match earlier this year, Asuka earned the RAW Women’s Championship without even technically fighting for it.
However, Asuka hasn’t managed to find a suitable challenger for her title since her rivalry with Sasha Banks. Over the past few months, The Empress has only defended the title against Superstars like Zelina Vega and Lana.
WWE needs to build a top rivalry for The Empress of Tomorrow and her title before both start losing value. Keeping that in mind, it was strange to watch WWE turn all their focus to Asuka and Flair’s new Women’s Tag Team Championship rather than also building a side feud for Asuka’s individual title.
With the Royal Rumble approaching, shouldn’t WWE be building a rivalry for Asuka’s WWE RAW Women’s title? It wouldn’t make much sense if Flair turns on Asuka so soon and goes after her title at the next pay-per-view. Therefore, Baszler or Jax could be built as her potential challengers.
#3 Why are the heels following rules during Street Fights in WWE?
A Street Fight has very simple rules in WWE: There are no rules. The match type is similar to many other match types in WWE, where the usual hardcore rules apply. Naturally, the match has no disqualifications, which means anything goes and Superstars can do whatever they want in order to score a victory.
This week in WWE, fans saw two Tag Team Street Fights take place. The first was a six-man Holiday Street Fight on WWE RAW, while the second took place on WWE NXT for the NXT Tag Team titles.
During both matches, the Superstars involved followed the regular rules of tagging in and tagging out religiously. While the NXT Street Fight saw some chaos at the beginning, the Superstars themselves started following traditional tag rules soon after.
This makes one wonder why the heels were following rules during a Street Fight? Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch could have easily broken the rules as heels to take advantage, and maybe even had Pete Dunne come in and help them win the contest easily.
Similarly, AJ Styles, The Miz, and John Morrison could have used the services of the giant Omos to help them win the match, and could have broken the tagging-in rule to gain an advantage over the babyfaces.
#2 Will WWE team up Kevin Owens and Daniel Bryan sometime soon?
Kevin Owens is once again in the main event picture as he managed to get into a big rivalry against WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. However, before KO got his chance to compete for the title, it seemed like Daniel Bryan would be challenging Reigns for the title soon.
On the SmackDown following Hell in a Cell, where Jey Uso lost to Reigns, fans saw The Tribal Chief command Uso to destroy The Planet’s Champion. Uso once again beat down Bryan backstage on SmackDown a few weeks ago, forcing KO to make the save and challenge Uso and Reigns.
KO had already expressed his desire to compete in a tag team with Bryan, and SmackDown has the perfect chance to give fans this dream team in WWE. Will WWE go far enough to form a tag team consisting of KO and Bryan?
This could work in WWE’s favor as fans could watch the former Universal Champion and former WWE Champion team up to give Reigns and Uso a tough time on the road to the Royal Rumble. A tag team rivalry comprising of these four Superstars could end up being phenomenal.
#1 How long can Jey Uso help keep the WWE Universal Championship on Roman Reigns?
Jey Uso has been serving as Roman Reigns’ right hand since his loss to The Tribal Chief at WWE Hell in a Cell. Since then, Uso has worked tirelessly to please his cousin and has done whatever Reigns has commanded him to do.
At WWE TLC, Kevin Owens gave Reigns a tough fight for the Universal title. However, Owens fought a downhill battle late in the match, and may as well have been in a Handicap Match, where Uso tried his best to ensure that his cousin wouldn’t lose the title.
On this week’s SmackDown, Uso did something similar and helped Reigns retain his title in a Steel Cage match against KO by handcuffing the challenger to the cage. This allowed The Tribal Chief to retain his title once again and extend his reign.
While Reigns has been one of the most successful and dominant Superstars in WWE for some time, his heel turn has seen him require the help of Uso to win matches. Even though this has added a nice edge to his overall character, the big question is how long can Uso keep the Universal Championship on Reigns?
The angle works in storyline but makes the product a little less believable the more Uso interferes. It also causes fans to wonder when we may see Reigns' title defenses become a little fairer for the opposition. Seeing Adam Pearce appear to protect his main event, but not work to protect the challengers, raises a few eyebrows.
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
