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WWE RAW had a few big segments announced for this week, including the appearance of SmackDown’s Bray Wyatt on the Kevin Owens Show. A big six-man tag team match was also announced, as Randy Orton teamed up with Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode to take on WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and RAW Tag Team Champions The Street Profits.
Braun Strowman and Keith Lee faced each other in an exhibition match, while Seth Rollins and Murphy once again defeated Dominik Mysterio and Humberto Carrillo.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler successfully defended their titles against Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan on RAW.
While The Hurt Business meant business once again this week, a big revelation broke them down as the leader of RETRIBUTION was finally revealed.
In this article, we will look at the five things WWE got right on this week’s episode of RAW.
#5 Mandy Rose shines while Zelina Vega stays in WWE RAW Women’s Championship picture
WWE RAW Women’s Champion Asuka teamed up with RAW newcomers Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke on the show to take on Lana, Natalya, and Zelina Vega. Vega has already challenged Asuka for the RAW Women’s Championship twice and failed to win it both times.
While the babyfaces had control of the match, Vega did the heelwork to provide the distraction that allowed the heels to get back in the match. Vega wore Rose down with a submission manoeuvre and then took cheap shots at Asuka.
While Lana, Vega, and Natalya did make a comeback in the match, Rose tagged herself in and blasted Lana with a jumping knee to pick up the victory for her teams.
After the match, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler made their way to the middle while Asuka and her team were celebrating. Vega made a run for it while Jax once again put Lana through the announce table with a Samoan Drop.
This was a decent match that helped build Rose and Brooke on RAW. They could prove to be good additions to the RAW women’s division in the weeks to come.
The heat between Asuka and Vega proved that they are far from done with each other, and fans can expect another match or two between them, especially with WWE Hell in a Cell coming up.
#4 Bray Wyatt and Aleister Black target Kevin Owens on WWE RAW
On Friday Night SmackDown last week, Kevin Owens headed over to the Blue brand to host the Kevin Owens show. His guest was none other than The Goddess of WWE, Alexa Bliss.
Owens shot a few questions regarding Bliss’s new character after her encounters with ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt, and Bliss gave some interesting replies. Soon after, KO was attacked by The Fiend with the Mandible Claw as Bliss watched on.
This week on RAW, Owens invited Wyatt on his show. He kicked off the talk show by questioning why so many tortured souls had issues with him. Wyatt appeared on the show, albeit from the Firefly Fun House.
Wyatt spoke about the importance of friendship, and KO wasn’t ready to have any of that. He insisted on getting some answers regarding The Fiend and Bliss. Wyatt suddenly got serious and said that the world would know Friday Night on SmackDown.
KO was too pumped up and said he wasn’t waiting for Friday, claiming that he was coming for Wyatt. As KO headed up the ramp, Aleister Black appeared and took out The Prizefighter with a Black Mass kick to end the segment.
While the overall segment wasn’t great, it helped establish a few things. We could watch Wyatt and Bliss head to RAW or KO head to SmackDown in the upcoming WWE Draft. We could also watch KO turn heel soon and partner with Black or Wyatt, or both of them.
There is a world of possibilities and WWE needs to ensure that the work of these top four Superstars does not go to waste.
#3 Murphy stands up for himself, Seth Rollins puts him down on WWE RAW
On WWE RAW this week, Seth Rollins issued a deadline for Murphy to come to the ring and apologize to him. He had only until 10 P.M. to apologize and make it up to The Monday Night Messiah.
Rollins headed to the ring and called him disciple out. The Messiah continued to tell Murphy to apologize to him, telling him that he’s seen first hand what happens to those who stand in the way of the greater good.
Rollins grew angrier and grabbed Murphy by his beard, demanding an apology from him. Murphy lost it and shoved his partner to the ground, pounding away at him from thereon. The fight spilled to the floor where The Disciple got hold of a kendo stick and repeatedly struck Rollins. Murphy started demanding an apology from Rollins, who said that he did not mean to bring her into this.
Rollins then tricked Murphy with a thumb to his eye, following which he unleashed with an attack of his own on his disciple. Rollins grabbed a steel chair, but Aalyah Mysterio appeared to beg Rollins to stop. He did and left the arena as Dominik and Rey Mysterio joined Aalyah to end the segment on WWE RAW.
This was yet another great segment from WWE that could be a set up from Rollins. It seems like he’s trying to bring Murphy and Aalyah together to get the better of Rey, and the plan seems to be working.
#2 Ali’s RETRIBUTION on WWE RAW
The Hurt Business defeated Apollo Crews and Ricochet earlier on WWE RAW, and Mustafa Ali wanted a shot at MVP later in the night. Ali challenged MVP to a singles contest as he looked to take down the former United States Champion once again.
Ali built momentum for himself in the match, but Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley made their way into the ring. RETRIBUTION appeared to take down all the WWE Superstars in the ring, and it seemed like Ali was joining forces with The Hurt Business to take down the invaders.
However, he rolled out of the ring and ordered Slapjack, T-Bar, and Mace to attack The Hurt Business.
RETRIBUTION beat down MVP, Benjamin, and Lashley before joining Ali in the center of the ring. As the dust settled, not only did it seem like Ali was joining RETRIBUTION, but it also seemed like he was leading the group.
This came as a big surprise after Ali was long forgotten on the main roster. Earlier this year, many fans were convinced that Ali was the Mystery Hacker on SmackDown. However, all that changed when he moved to RAW and started working alongside Crews and Ricochet.
Ali leading RETRIBUTION could help inject some excitement around the faction after fans did not take them too seriously initially. Ali could also end up getting a big boost in WWE from hereon.
#1 Randy Orton pins Drew McIntyre on WWE RAW for the first time in over a year
After an opening promo where Randy Orton challenged Drew McIntyre to a Hell in a Cell match at the namesake pay-per-view for the WWE Championship, we got a six-man tag team match to close the night.
Orton teamed up with Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler to compete against McIntyre and WWE RAW Tag Team Champions The Street Profits on the show.
Late in the bout, it seemed like The Street Profits had the match in the bag when Angelo Dawkins took down Orton with The Anointment, followed by Ford’s frog splash.
However, Ziggler and Roode broke up the pin and chaos ensued soon after. Orton saw an opening and delivered the RKO to The Scottish Psychopath to pick up a big victory on the same night he’d laid down the challenge.
The match was good and kept the storyline ticking. McIntyre was pinned by a RAW Superstar for the first time in over a year. The last time McIntyre was pinned on television was during the Survivor Series.
This match could signal towards a change of title at WWE Hell in a Cell, and even Roode and Ziggler could get a shot at the RAW Tag Team Champions held by The Street Profits after their victory.
