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WWE RAW had a few interesting segments this week. Kofi Kingston and Drew McIntyre got in a war of words that led to a #1 contender match for the WWE Championship. Their match ended in disqualification, and the two superstars will compete once again on RAW next week. Who will challenge Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell?
Natalya and Tamina retained their Women’s Tag Team Championships in the main event of RAW. Should WWE move away from Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax to give someone else a chance to win the titles?
Riddle also surprised the WWE Universe by defeating Xavier Woods with an RKO. Will Riddle’s choice of finisher cause a rift between him and Orton or will they become a better team?
Franky Monet made an impressive in-ring debut on NXT. Karrion Kross defeated Finn Balor to retain his NXT Championship. Who will dare to step up to Kross next on NXT?
The Usos returned to the ring on WWE SmackDown to defeat The Street Profits. Jimmy Uso asked Adam Pearce to give him and his brother a match for the SmackDown Tag Team titles soon after. Will Roman Reigns be happy with Jimmy and Jey’s quest for gold?
Bianca Belair defeated Carmella on SmackDown to push ahead as the top woman on the Blue brand. How long will fans have to wait before Bayley gets another shot at The EST’s title?
Take a look at the five biggest questions from RAW, NXT, and SmackDown this week.
#5 Does Kofi Kingston need to prove himself before getting a WWE Championship match?
This week on RAW, Bobby Lashley came out with MVP to talk about his loss to Kofi Kingston. Lashley and MVP believed that Drew McIntyre was the main problem and wanted him out of the championship picture.
McIntyre interrupted Lashley and MVP and so did Kofi Kingston. Both men made their case for a title match against The All-Mighty before Adam Pearce booked a match between the two superstars.
The match ended in disqualification after Lashley and MVP attacked both men late in the match. It was good to watch two top superstars compete for a chance to challenge the WWE Champion. However, does Kofi need to prove himself after already pinning Lashley in a non-title match?
Kofi did get some assistance from The Scottish Warrior to pick up the victory. However, his victory should have automatically taken him to the WWE Championship picture.
Putting McIntyre back in the title scene after losing a few times does not make much sense. Why does Kofi need to prove himself once again to get a shot at the title he never got a rematch for?
#4 Should Nikki Cross have defeated Rhea Ripley on WWE RAW?
Nikki Cross interrupted Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley backstage on WWE RAW. Cross challenged either woman to a match, and Ripley accepted her challenge. The two women competed in a Beat the Clock Challenge on RAW.
This was Cross’s first match on RAW since early February, and she was looking to make an impact back in the ring. In a surprising turn of events, Ripley could not put Cross away within two minutes and ended up losing the match.
It was a smart way for WWE to hand Ripley her first singles loss on the Red brand since her move. The RAW Women’s Champion did not get pinned or submitted and still lost the match to Cross.
While the way WWE handed her a loss was innovative, should Cross have been the one to defeat her on RAW?
Several women should be in line for a shot at the RAW Women’s Championship. WWE could've picked another superstar who has been more active on RAW to hand Ripley her first loss and then possibly get into a rivalry with her.
Flair is already scheduled to take on Ripley for the title and it looks like Cross won’t benefit much from her victory.
#3 Why did Raquel Gonzalez turn into a full-blown heel on WWE NXT?
Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai have had one of the best partnerships on WWE NXT. Gonzalez impressed the WWE Universe with her work in the ring and defeated Io Shirai to win the NXT Women’s Championship as a heel.
Soon after, Gonzalez started showing signs of a face turn and came across as a calmer individual. She competed against Mercedes Martinez as a face and the two women had a good contest for the NXT Women’s Championship.
This week, Gonzalez and Kai challenged Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart to a match on NXT. Blackheart and Moon pinned Kai to win the contest, after which Gonzalez snapped.
She attacked both women mercilessly, turning into a full-blown heel once again and going back to her old character. Why did WWE turn Gonzalez face for a short time before turning her back again? Is NXT looking to bring Blackheart into the NXT Women’s Championship picture? Has the brand run out of heel challengers for the champion?
This looks to be the case as such a quick turn suggests that the creative wants to give the babyfaces of the brand a shot at the champion.
#2 Is Finn Balor headed to the WWE main roster soon?
Finn Balor demanded a rematch for the WWE NXT Championship from Karrion Kross. The Herald of Doomsday did not back down from the challenge and gladly accepted Balor’s request.
The two men competed in an excellent match for the NXT title on Tuesday night. Kross took Balor to the limits during the match, but The Prince did not give in easily. However, he could not avoid the wrath of The Herald of Doomsday, who locked in the Kross Jacket to pick up the victory.
Balor has now lost twice against Kross. He has also faced most of the big names on the Black and Gold brand and has had an excellent NXT Championship reign. Is The Prince ready to head to the main roster soon?
Unless Balor is looking to restart his rivalry against the WWE NXT UK Champion WALTER, it would be better for him to move to the main roster. Moving to the NXT mid-card will not help the WWE Superstar who has already done his job on the Black & Gold brand.
Balor has already expressed interest in moving back to RAW or SmackDown soon. Will WWE allow him to return to one of the two brands for a potential world champion run?
#1 Will Shinsuke Nakamura help King Corbin build a new character on WWE SmackDown?
The rivalry between Shinsuke Nakamura and King Corbin hasn’t really taken off as it should have on WWE SmackDown. However, with the introduction of Rick Boogs into the picture, things have gotten more interesting.
Nakamura has stolen Corbin’s crown and is not ready to give it back to The King. Corbin won the King of the Ring tournament in 2019. Since then, he has been pushing the same gimmick for over one and a half years.
The Artist is after Corbin’s crown, and that could lead to either a match between the two for it or a new King of the Ring Tournament. This could end up being a career booster for both the WWE Superstars.
Will Nakamura end up causing a change in Corbin’s character while potentially getting a new one himself? That could end up being the case as Nakamura could win the crown and become The King of Strong Style again.
It will also allow Corbin to move away from his stale character and possibly come back with a new gimmick that could help him move ahead on SmackDown.
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