5 mistakes WWE made on Raw this week(4 February 2019)

The narratives that have been showcased on Monday Night Raw over the last few weeks have managed to keep the WWE Universe engaged. As Ronda Rousey's battles with Becky Lynch have been thoroughly enjoyable to watch, Dean Ambrose trying to foil Seth Rollins WrestleMania plans and the hunt for the first ever Women's Tag Team Champions made Raw better than it should have been.

However, this week's episode of Raw felt like an episode that belonged in the era WWE promised to leave behind, as more repetitive absurdity was on display, superstars were being used badly, and the main event of Raw was not even on the show. So let's go through the important mistakes WWE made on Raw this week, and how they could have avoided it, which would have in turn made the show better.

#1 No Universal Title action

Where was The Man when you needed him.

The moment Seth Rollins won the Royal Rumble, fans knew that WWE was finally serious on getting the Universal Championship back on track, as for years the Universal Title has been in the background of Raw's main programmes.

From the forced feud of Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar to Lesnar taking on Braun Strowman for a hundred times, the World Title feud on Raw needed a fresh injection of excitement, and Rollins is the man to do so. However, with rumors going around that Rollins is injured and won't be getting physical for the next month on WWE TV, it feels like the main event could take a huge hit.

Now we all know that Lesnar is not going to show up weekly on Raw to build this feud, then why can't WWE have Paul Heyman show up on Raw with the Universal Title and hype it up? This week on Raw it showed that Raw desperately needed the Rollins-Lesnar feud, as the flat main event between Baron Corbin and co. was not at the solution to a missing Rollins and Lesnar.

#2 Finn on his way down

While Finn may have won the match, he is still losing momentum.

Finn Balor might be the most overpushed and underused star at times in the WWE, and no offense to 'The Almighty' Bobby Lashley, but how does WWE take Finn Balor from the main event of the Royal Rumble to the low depths of the Raw midcard.

Now, it is not a bad thing that Balor is in pursuit of the Intercontinental Title, but this feud with Lashley feels so forced and unworthy of even been booked. Lashley doesn't need to fight Balor again, but he needs a legitimate opponent that will elevate the IC Title.

And on Balor's side, his rivalry with Lashley will do him no favors, as Balor has challenged for the IC Title before, and even though he did not capture the belt, his time in the Raw mid-card is up. Balor needs a change of environment as battling Raw midcarders like Lio Rush and Bobby Lashley will do nothing to rebuild his broken WWE career.

#3 EC3's mediocre debut

This should be a lesson on how not to introduce a character.

EC3 was one of WWE's former superstars that left the company and went on to make a name for himself in TNA, and in 2018, EC3 returned to WWE by signing with NXT. Now the fact of the matter is this, not many WWE fans know who exactly EC3 is, and that meant that the WWE needed to give him a big character introduction.

And that character introduction was supposed to take place on Raw this week, as EC3 was a guest on Alexa Bliss' talk show, but it didn't happen as the former TNA star hoped for, as he was interrupted by Dean Ambrose. They soon got in an altercation, which set up a match between the two Superstars.

To be perfectly honest, even though EC3 beat Dean Ambrose this week on Raw, he was not impressive at all, and that was due to WWE not giving him a proper introduction and pinning a man who we all know will most likely leave the company is hardly anything impressive. EC3 should have been introduced with more fanfare, as the crowd has no idea what to make of him.

#4 Inability to capitalize on Ambrose's situation

How can WWE ignore the obvious?

Dean Ambrose leaving the WWE was the talk of the town last week, ever since WWE themselves confirmed that the former WWE Champion would be leaving the company after April, when his contract expires. There has been a lot of speculation from critics and fans alike, on whether this is a work by WWE or is Ambrose really on his way out?

No matter what the truth is, the biggest mistake WWE made this week was not capitalizing of the buzz they stirred up with Ambrose's contract. How could WWE drop the biggest news piece of the year, and not use the heat it has generated.

This was Ambrose's big chance to become the new anti-hero of the WWE, as a man who is leaving the company he should have been given a segment at least explaining his grievances with the company.

But no, we got a boring match between Ambrose and EC3. Whether it would have been a Pipe Bomb, a crazed Dean going after the management, or some sort of indication of Ambrose's future; WWE maybe should have followed up, as it would have been one of the biggest segments of the week.

#5 A terrible ending to the show

How was that a DQ?

The main event of Raw this week was not what fans had expected, and after Lesnar and Rollins capped off Raw last week in hot fashion, the tag team match between Braun Strowman, Kurt Angle, Drew McIntyre, and Baron Corbin was not the main event we needed this week on Raw. This match was set up earlier in the night when Angle was possibly going to retire, but he was instead assaulted by McIntyre and Corbin; it wasn't a long time before Strowman came out to make the save.

Aside from the quality of the match, the fact that this match ended in such a silly manner with the referee disqualifying Strowman for kicking ass as he was the illegal man, is that the best WWE could come up with? Strowman, McIntyre, and Corbin are three characters in desperate need of direction, so by putting them in throwaway matches that actually main event the show is not doing them any favors.