WWE was looking to kick 2021 off on the right foot, and they managed to nail it with WWE SmackDown last week. The show was followed up by WWE RAW, which featured both tag team and non-title matches.
Riddle scored a questionable victory over Bobby Lashley after tapping out to The Hurt Lock, after which he pinned the Champion. The Miz and John Morrisonβs patience was also put to the test during WWE RAW.
Xia Li returned to WWE NXT on New Yearβs Evil and made an immediate impact. However, the Superstar has a mountain to climb ahead of her, since several top women are waiting in line for an NXT Womenβs Championship opportunity. On the other hand, Karrion Kross could not make the desired impact during his slugfest against Damian Priest.
WWE SmackDown revolved around The Tribal Chief once again, who wasn't too happy with Adam Pearce's decisions on the brand. Apart from Roman Reigns, Shinsuke Nakamura and Apollo Crews managed to impress on Friday night.
In this article, let's look at the 5 biggest questions from this week's WWE RAW, NXT and SmackDown.
#5 Why did Charlotte Flair show her heelish side on WWE RAW?
WWE RAW hosted a special episode titled 'Legends Night' to kick-off 2021. Ric Flair was among the legendary names that appeared during the show and he got a chance to be featured prominently during WWE RAW. He appeared at ringside to watch his daughter Charlotte Flair team up with Asuka to take on Peyton Royce and Lacey Evans in a non-title match.
However, Ric became more involved in the action than heβd have liked, and ended up costing his daughter the match. Fans would agree that Flair made a mistake, and did not deliberately cost Charlotte the match. The Queen vented her frustration on her father and belittled him, before asking him to leave the arena.
While the segment was solid, the big question it raised was whether or not Charlotte was playing a face or a heel? The Queen returned to competition as a face not too long ago and teamed up with Asuka to win the WWE Womenβs Championship.
Ric, on the other hand, is a lovable character who has been making sporadic appearances in WWE ever since his retirement. The entire segment made Charlotte look like the bad guy, and gave the impression that she was playing a heel rather than a face.
Was WWE intentionally looking to plant the seeds to an early heel turn for The Queen? Or was the segment booked without keeping in mind the repercussions it might end up having?
Reports have suggested that Ric made a mistake on RAW and Charlotte went along with the charade and improvised the entire thing. However, if that's the case, it left a bad taste in the mouth for some fans.