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After Royal Rumble, WWE RAW is looking at building towards the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. The brand did not take long before getting to the point as Adam Pearce opened the show to welcome a guest who made a big announcement early in the night.
Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre were booked to compete once again on RAW, while Riddle and Keith Lee were set to do battle for the first time on the Red brand. Their former NXT colleague Damian Priest also got a match on this week’s show.
Charlotte Flair managed to get her hands on Lacey Evans in a singles match, but she could not control her emotions which led to her disqualification. Lana, on the other hand, picked up another surprise victory over Nia Jax in a Tables Match. That wasn’t all, as her tag team partner Naomi also emerged victorious on RAW.
With Elimination Chamber creeping up, WWE managed to name the challengers for the WWE Championship and the RAW Women’s title. Let’s look at the five things WWE got right on this week’s episode of RAW.
#5 WWE RAW set a big match for Elimination Chamber; AJ Styles defeated Jeff Hardy
WWE RAW opened up with a recap of what went down between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus last week before Adam Pearce and Shane McMahon took center stage. McMahon had a big announcement to make en route WWE Elimination Chamber.
Shane McMahon announced that Drew McIntyre would defend his WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber against AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Sheamus, Randy Orton, and The Miz. After the announcement, Styles walked out and mocked Pearce. He then got a match against The Charismatic Enigma, Jeff Hardy.
Styles went after his opponent early and tried to injure his left leg. Hardy has always been great at selling injuries mid-match, but at times he started to oversell things. Styles attempted to end Hardy with the Styles Clash, but The Charismatic Enigma turned it into a Twist of Fate. However, he couldn’t hit the Swanton Bomb on Styles who trapped him in the Calf Crusher. Moments later, Hardy tapped out to give Styles another major victory.
Fans watched Shane McMahon confront McIntyre backstage and tell him that he needed to win at Elimination Chamber to prove himself. Styles has won several matches on RAW, but that hasn’t helped him get anywhere to the top title picture again.
Hardy, on the other hand, has had one too many losses on RAW, and the creative need to think of something big for him. There are a few big names on the card for Elimination Chamber, and WWE could use the match to give Hardy a push among the heels.
#4 The New Day defeated RETRIBUTION on WWE RAW
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods teamed up to take on RETRIBUTION on WWE RAW. T-Bar and Slapjack represented the heel faction, while Mustafa Ali ensured he was heard by taking to the RAW commentary table.
Kingston and Woods took control early, but T-Bar and Slapjack made them pay with some great offense. It looked like RETRIBUTION would pick up the victory as Ali continued to shout instructions at them.
However, the babyfaces made a comeback in the match and took the heels down with a flurry of offense. Moments later, Kingston and Woods hit the Daybreak to pick up the victory.
After the match, Ali was furious at his teammates and yelled at them for letting New Day win the contest.
The match was quick and fun and allowed all four men to shine. T-Bar is too good in the ring to go down the way he does on RAW, and that’s something the creative really need to look at.
The seeds have been planted, and fans will likely get a good rivalry between Kofi Kingston and Mustafa Ali on RAW in the months to come. Let’s hope that the creatives don’t pull out at the final moment.
#3 Edge made his intentions clear; Damian Priest shined again on WWE RAW
Knowing that the WWE Championship would be defended at Elimination Chamber, Edge appeared on RAW this week. He wanted it to be known that he would only decide who he’d challenge at WrestleMania after the result of the match at Elimination Chamber.
The Royal Rumble winner confronted The Miz and John Morrison who spoke about the Money in the Bank briefcase. The Rated-R Superstar berated both men and put himself over.
Angel Garza then got a match against Damian Priest. Garza last competed on RAW towards the end of December last year, and it was good to watch him return to the Red brand ring.
Miz and Morrison tried to help Garza in the match, but the referee caught them and sent them to the back. This allowed Priest to take control and hit Garza with the Reckoning to pick up the victory.
Edge did not need to appear on RAW this week, but it looks like WWE will be keeping him around all the way until WrestleMania. It was good to have Garza and Priest compete on RAW, even though the match did not last for long.
#2 Keith Lee vs. Matt Riddle delivered on WWE RAW
Fans of WWE NXT have watched these two men clash several times. However, for WWE RAW viewers, this was a brand new match that could have been saved for a bigger stage.
Keith Lee and Riddle prepared for a chance to get their hands on Bobby Lashley and his US title on RAW. Both men did not hold back during the contest while MVP talked up the United States Champion on commentary.
Lee used his sheer strength to impress the masses once again, but The Original Bro kept coming back at The Limitless One. A series of Brotons helped Riddle take control in the match, and he fought his way out of a Spirit Bomb attempt with the triangle choke.
The Original Bro could not rally for long as Lee caught him with a Spirit Bomb to pick up the victory. After the match, Lashley attacked Lee from behind. He delivered a big slam to the giant and then took out Riddle with the Hurt Lock.
Lashley did further damage by blasting Riddle with the steel steps. It was soon announced that the match between Lashley and Lee for the United States Championship would now include Riddle.
While the final announcement made little sense, it was good watching Lee come back and pick up a victory on RAW. Elimination Chamber will allow Lee and Riddle with the perfect opportunity to win their first main roster title.
#1 Sheamus gets involved in the main event of WWE RAW
RAW decided to book yet another match between Randy Orton and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. The two men have a lot of history, and RAW aired vignettes of the same before their match.
The two men tried to hit their finishers early in the match, but both managed to dodge each other. Orton tried to injure the WWE Champion by throwing him outside the ring and slamming him onto the announce table.
The Celtic Warrior’s distractions allowed The Viper to deliver a few big moves to the WWE Champion and keep him down on RAW.
While Orton had the upper hand, McIntyre started to make a comeback in the match. However, the match came to a bitter end once Sheamus decided to interfere and Brogue Kick Orton. The attack caused a disqualification, following which McIntyre delivered a Claymore to Sheamus to stand tall.
WWE did well to end the match in a disqualification rather than allowing The Viper to lose another one. RAW allowed three men from the Elimination Match to get involved in the main event to hype up the next pay-per-view.
