5 Things that must happen on RAW, NXT, and SmackDown this week

Last week’s shows were a treat to watch for the wrestling fans as all three brands managed to deliver a lot more in-ring action and a lot less pre-taped promos.

However, there were several heartbreaks in the days between, but the company kept rolling and continued to entertain the fans and give it their best to make things work during the current situation.

RAW saw a new challenger for the WWE Championship stand up, while the RAW Tag Team Champions may also need to be more careful as new challenges have begun to rise.

NXT delivered some top action involving Superstars such as Finn Balor, Akira Tozawa, and Matt Riddle, while Timothy Thatcher made his in-ring debut and Karrion Kross made his first mark on the Black and Gold brand.

SmackDown was not far behind in delivering some decent matches, and we saw new SmackDown Tag Team Champions being crowned by the end of the night to make things more exciting.

In this article, we will look at the 5 things that must happen on RAW, NXT, and SmackDown this week.

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#5 The Viking Raiders turn heel

The Viking Raiders lost their RAW Tag Team Championships to Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy while teaming up with Kevin Owens in his fight against The Monday Night Messiah. Soon after, The Street Profits replaced them on several occasions and went on to win the RAW Tag Team titles from the heels.

In recent weeks, we’ve seen RAW forge a few unconventional tag teams, with Ricochet and Cederic Alexander coming across as one of them. Last week The Viking Raiders defeated Ricochet and Alexander to push their case and possibly get a shot to reclaim their lost titles.

This week, WWE must book The Street Profits in a clash against some team and give them a chance to win. After the match, The Viking Raiders must attack the duo and turn heel in time to set up a big rivalry and clash between the two teams.

With the Money in the Bank pay-per-view coming up, the brand will be looking for a good team to come up and challenge Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford for the titles. The Viking Raiders could prove to be the perfect heels to undo the babyfaces and give the RAW tag team division a run for their money.

#4 Aleister Black enters the United States Championship picture

Black will take on Theory this week

Three first-time matches for the Money in the Bank ladder match qualifiers will take place on this week’s show. One of those matches will see former NXT Champion Aleister Black compete against NXT’s newest export to RAW, Austin Theory, battle it out for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win the Money in the Bank briefcase and have limited powers but unlimited opportunities.

Black has been cruising through on weekly shows and rearranging his opponents’ teeth on RAW during every match. Theory, on the other hand, has formed an unlikely partnership with Andrade and Angel Garza and the trio is looking to take over the brand.

Theory is phenomenal in the ring, but Black is the more lethal force competing on RAW. With that said, we will most likely see some interferences and distractions from Theory’s friends as he looks to progress to the MITB match.

WWE must allow United States Champion Andrade to somehow get involved in the match and attack Black, forcing a disqualification or a loss for Black. This will help Black find his new target and go after the title that he so well deserves on RAW at the moment.

Black going against another big faction on RAW will help his cause, and Andrade is a familiar foe as the two have fought several times on NXT, especially for the NXT Championship.

With Andrade reminding Drew McIntyre who defeated him for the NXT Championship on RAW last week, we should see Black do something similar to Andrade.

#3 KUSHIDA defeats Tony Nese

The two men are set to gain the first advantage

The tournament to crown the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion kicked off last week as Akira Tozawa scored a victory over Isaiah "Swerve" Scott. One of the matches that will take place in the tournament this week will be between KUSHIDA and Tony Nese.

Nese has proven to be an asset for the entire Cruiserweight division and has stayed at the top of the 205 Live brand for a long time.

KUSHIDA, on the other hand, has had several good matches since his debut but has failed to make the impact that was expected of him when his signing was first made public.

He was expected to reach the top of NXT or the Cruiserweight division but has had start-stop feuds with several Superstars after his big initial feud against WALTER in NXT UK.

The two men should give it their best in the ring during their first match in the tournament and NXT must allow KUSHIDA to score the victory to get the upper hand in the tournament.

KUSHIDA is a far better competitor and hasn’t gotten the right bookings since his arrival. NXT has a chance to right the wrong and allow KUSHIDA to come across as the toughest competitor in the tournament. Along with Swerve, he should be the favorite to win, and even though Swerve lost his first match of the tournament, NXT should allow KUSHIDA to get over Nese and progress.

#2 Finn Balor vs Velveteen Dream ends in a no-contest

Balor and Dream are in for a major match

Last week on NXT, Finn Balor looked to send a clear message to NXT United Kingdom Champion WALTER as he took on Fabian Aichner. A few weeks before the clash, Balor had already defeated Imperium’s Alexander Wolfe.

The Prince was able to take down Aichner too and make a huge statement to WALTER who had sent a message through his followers to Balor a couple of months ago.

Later on in the night, The Velveteen Dream came out to talk to NXT Champion Adam Cole one-on-one but The Panama City Playboy was once again not present and sent Dream a pre-recorded message.

After Dream called Cole the best NXT Champion and spoke about taking him down, Finn Balor interrupted as he regards himself as the best NXT Champion. After a brief encounter, Balor challenged Dream to a match next week and Dream accepted.

This week, the two men will meet in the ring for a possible chance to take on Cole for the NXT Championship down the line. NXT must allow Cole or some other members of the Undisputed Era to attack both men during the match and end it in a no-contest.

This will allow NXT to give Dream the shot he is looking for while protecting Balor who has been building towards at a shot at the NXT UK Championship too. A loss for either man will hurt their image and momentum at this point.

The brand can then announce a Triple Threat Match for the title for a later date where we could watch Dream pin Cole for the title.

#1 The hacker forms some cracks between The Artist Collective

The Hacker once again appeared on last week's show

Last week’s SmackDown saw a good match between Cesaro and Daniel Bryan to determine who would move on to the Money in the Bank ladder match scheduled to take place next month.

Early in the segment, the hacker that revealed the truth between Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville a few weeks ago appeared on screen again and promised to reveal many more secrets in the coming weeks.

This week on SmackDown, the creatives must use this storyline to form cracks between an existing team to make things more exciting. While Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak could have their differences down the line, the hacker should target The Artist Collective instead.

If the mysterious man begins to reveal some hidden agenda of Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn to Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, things would begin to get exciting on the Blue brand.

Zayn has been missing since WrestleMania, while Nakamura and Cesaro need a new direction to head into. Such a storyline could spice up the scene and give Zayn a couple of new contenders to fight for his title.