5 Bizarre booking decisions WWE made this week (14th February, 2021)

WWE is in a tough position when it comes to booking RAW and SmackDown at present, since the company is still riding high from the Royal Rumble last month but also pushing forward to next week's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

This week saw the first matches for the show announced, with Drew McIntyre set to defend his WWE Championship against Sheamus, Jeff Hardy, The Miz, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles inside the unforgiving structure.

Elsewhere, Bobby Lashley will defend his United States Championship against both Keith Lee and Riddle, whilst Lacey Evans challenges Asuka for the RAW Women's Championship.

Over on SmackDown, it was announced that Roman Reigns would face the winner of their Elimination Chamber match as part of the show and Sami Zayn, King Corbin, Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, Cesaro and Daniel Bryan will make up the field.

Elimination Chamber is shaping up to be a fantastic show, but there were still some bizarre booking decisions made by WWE again this week.

The following list looks at just five bizarre booking decisions that WWE made on the main roster over the past seven days.

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#5. Bizarre booking - Shinsuke Nakamura didn't have any reaction to Roman Reigns on WWE SmackDown

Advantage Nakamura!!!#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/LuedLq4c7x

— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) January 9, 2021

Shinsuke Nakamura was screwed out of his WWE Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns a few weeks ago on SmackDown when the Champion and Jey Uso decided to allow Adam Pearce to pick up the victory.

If Uso and Reigns didn't interfere then it's obvious that Nakamura would have faced Reigns at the Royal Rumble instead of Kevin Owens, but for some reason, The Artist hasn't even reacted to the fact that he was screwed over by the Champion.

This week on SmackDown, Reigns was in the ring talking about challengers for Elimination Chamber and Nakamura could have come out and stated his claim or even been included in the Chamber match, but that wasn't the case.

Instead, Nakamura answered an open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship, making for very bizarre booking, which he went on to lose. Now it's likely that he will challenge Big E along with Apollo Crews next weekend at Elimination Chamber.

Cesaro has been the subject of quite a push since he and Nakamura went their separate ways on SmackDown, but it appears that his former partner isn't being given the same opportunities on TV at present.

#4. Bizarre booking - Why did Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax confront Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair on WWE SmackDown?

Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax have had a rough week on WWE TV. Not only were both women defeated on Monday Night RAW, but Jax went on to become a viral sensation when her reaction to an apron bump took over the internet.

The former Women's Champion was seemingly not content to wait until RAW to make an appearance, and instead, the Women's Tag Team Champions made an appearance on SmackDown to confront Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair, which felt like very bizarre booking in hindsight.

At present, Baszler and Jax are not the unit that they once were and have easily become a bit of a joke in the Women's Division. Their appearance on SmackDown only led to more humiliation and, since Belair and Banks are looking to face each other at WrestleMania, it was bizarre booking for the two women to come out to confront them.

The one attempt WWE made to note why the two women had traveled to SmackDown was because they were jealous of the attention that Bianca Belair had garnered after winning The Royal Rumble last month.

#3. Bizarre booking - Why do The Miz and John Morrison need to recruit Angel Garza on WWE RAW?

The Miz and John Morrison have been feuding with Bad Bunny since their showdown at WWE's Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Bad Bunny has since recruited Damien Priest and the former NXT star has already made quite the impression on the main roster.

Miz and Morrison are former Tag Team Champions and are definitely not considered to be pushovers, but have been treated as such since Bunny and Priest joined forces.

This past week on RAW, Miz and Morrison seemingly recruited Angel Garza into their group and he came up short against Damien Priest on his return to TV. Bad Bunny and Priest are rumored to be teaming together at WrestleMania - which is very bizarre booking in itself - to take on Miz and Morrison, so it's unclear why Garza has been added to the mix.

In yet anoter bizarre booking twist this week on RAW, WWE didn't provide much of an explanation as to why Morrison and Garza were now friends either. The one positive in this situation is that Garza is back on TV.

#2. Bizarre booking - What was the purpose of Shane McMahon's return to WWE Monday Night RAW?

This week's episode of WWE Monday Night RAW kicked off with the return of former SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon, who helped Adam Pearce to announce the match for Elimination Chamber.

Over the past few months, Pearce has been announcing high-profile matches himself on both WWE shows, so it felt like bizarre booking to assume Shane McMahon was needed for the announcement on Monday night.

McMahon left the building after the announcement as well, which just adds more questions into the mix, since RAW and SmackDown haven't needed The McMahon's for months.

Interestingly, when Pearce tried to make the same announcement on SmackDown he was approached by Roman Reigns and his idea was changed. If Shane McMahon had appeared on SmackDown instead then he could have forced Reigns to defend inside the Chamber.

It just felt like very bizarre booking for a McMahon to be there. Drew McIntyre is a fighting Champion and obviously accepted his fate regarding his WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber, whereas Reigns was much more hostile.

#1. Bizarre booking - Lacey Evans is chosen as the woman who will challenge Asuka at WWE Elimination Chamber

WWE's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view is just a week away and Asuka has had no build-up to a title match over the past few weeks. The RAW Women's Champion didn't even defend her title at The Royal Rumble since she was busy in her match with Charlotte, where the two women lost the Women's Tag Team Championships.

In yet another stroke of bizarre booking, WWE decided to fast track the RAW Women's Championship for next weekend when it was announced that Lacey Evans would challenge Charlotte and the winner would take on Asuka.

Lacey Evans has only won matches in recent weeks because of the interference of Charlotte's father - another piece of bizarre booking - and she didn't even make an impact in the Royal Rumble match. Evans was only able to qualify for the match because Charlotte got herself disqualified, which gave the Sassy Southern Belle the win and the opportunity to fight for the Women's Championship.

Whilst Evans did cost Asuka the Women's Tag Team Championships, leaving some room for revenge, there are several other women on RAW at present who could have been chosen to face Asuka instead.