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Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on the RAW after WrestleMania Backlash. We had a good pay-per-view on Sunday, and despite RAW's poor build, the matches from the red brand delivered more.
This week's episode was a huge improvement, and unlike the last pay-per-view, the build to Hell In A Cell 2021 seems to have started on the right note.
With shocking defeats, potential pushes, alliances, and heel turns, here are a few things WWE subtly hinted at on RAW this week:
#5 Bobby Lashley's open challenge on RAW and what's next for The All Mighty WWE Champion
The All Mighty Bobby Lashley and MVP walked out in the opening segment of RAW and the WWE Champion had several women on each side. MVP was bragging about the victory the previous night and announced an "Open challenge".
Drew McIntyre's music hit just after the announcement, and MVP completed his statement, saying it was an open challenge for anybody but Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre.
While the Scotsman was ready to settle the score right then, the two went away and bided their time until the end of the night.
While some names teased answering the open challenge, it was ultimately Kofi Kingston who decided to have a crack at Lashley, only to find out that the WWE Title wasn't on the line.
Kofi Kingston was the star of RAW this week. Not only did he beat his old rival Randy Orton, but he managed to do something even bigger. In what turned out to be a short-but-effective main event, Kofi Kingston pinned Bobby Lashley thanks to a distraction from Drew McIntyre.
While Xavier Woods was busy with the referee, MVP was on the verge of assisting Bobby Lashley by hitting Kingston with a cane. Instead, Drew McIntyre caught it and eventually helped the former WWE Champion get the victory.
While it seemed like a fluke win (or at least presented that way), here are two interesting bits of trivia.
This was the first time Bobby Lashley had been pinned in four months. Secondly, it was the first time that Kofi Kingston and Lashley squared off in a singles match.
So what does this mean? It's evident that Drew McIntyre will be involved in a Hell in a Cell match against Bobby Lashley, but will Kofi Kingston have a part to play as well?
As of this writing, it's hard to say. But he could end up being a roadblock for Lashley on the road to Hell in a Cell 2021.
#4 Damian Priests move forward and is set for a big push on RAW
Damian Priest had yet another lumberjack match on the RAW after WrestleMania Backlash. He faced John Morrison on this week's episode. Thankfully, this time around, there were no zombies and the regular superstars on the roster were at ringside for the match.
Despite the match dragging on for a bit longer than it was expected, the bout served its purpose.
It was an entertaining clash and WWE had a legitimate lumberjack match on RAW, where the superstars on the outside played their role perfectly. Damian Priest won as expected in what was an absolutely chaotic match.
Post-match, Damian Priest revealed that he's officially done with The Miz and John Morrison, and WWE fans can breathe a sigh of relief.
He has had a great deal of momentum on his side, and he even teased answering Bobby Lashley's open challenge later in the night.
While he wasn't the one who answered it, one thing seems clear. The reports of Damian Priest getting a big push on RAW seem to be true.
#3 Alexa Bliss and the Women's Tag Team Champions on RAW
Alexa Bliss mentioned last week on RAW that Lilly had her eyes on somebody. There was a whole list of names, including Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Charlotte Flair, Asuka, Shayna Baszler, and Nia Jax.
On the latest episode of RAW, Alexa's Playground saw two unlikely guests in the form of the Women's Tag Team Champions, Natalya and Tamina. It was a bit of a creepy segment, with the newly-crowned champions feeling a bit uncomfortable on their return to RAW.
They walked away from Alexa Bliss while she wasn't looking, and during their title rematch against Jax and Baszler, they got some unwanted assistance. Alexa Bliss was briefly seen on the ramp while fire shot out of the ring post just as Shayna Baszler was getting ready to finish the match. The flame seemingly hit Reginald and Jax got distracted by this.
Natalya and Tamina managed to use this moment to get the victory over the two-time Champions, thus putting an end to their feud. Will Alexa Bliss begin to influence all of their matches from the background?
#2 Asuka remains in the hunt for RAW Women's gold
Asuka getting pinned in the RAW Women's Title match at Wrestlemania Baclash seemed to indicate that she would be out of the Championship picture. When Charlotte Flair confronted Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce, it seemed like a singles program was in the works.
Pearce argued that Charlotte Flair wasn't going to get a Title shot solely based on not getting pinned at WrestleMania Backlash. So he booked her against the woman who took the fall last night, Asuka.
It looked like history would repeat itself and Charlotte would beat the Japanese star, but Rhea Ripley's presence at ringside proved too much.
Asuka got the win with a roll-up, similar to how Kofi Kingston defeated Randy Orton earlier in the night. It was a good match and a fine result.
We're glad that WWE is choosing not to push Asuka down the pecking order after she got pinned at WrestleMania Backlash. A couple of things seem clear - the RAW Women's division will be centered around three women till Becky Lynch returns.
Asuka isn't fully out of the RAW Women's Title picture yet, though the way Charlotte Flair is featured, she could get another shot sooner rather than later.
#1 Is R-K-Bro heading in a different direction on RAW?
On the latest episode of RAW, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods had a confrontation with Randy Orton about his post-match RKOs last week on both of them. It was interesting that on last week's show, Kofi Kingston, and Randy Orton's history wasn't brought up.
That wasn't the case on the latest edition of RAW. Their backstage war of words led to a match between the two - essentially a SummerSlam 2019 rematch. It was a good bout that served its purpose, and Kofi Kingston won with a roll-up pin in the end.
We liked that WWE chose to protect Kofi Kingston over Randy Orton. However, the main story from the match was a different one.
While it seemed like Randy Orton quietly became a babyface again, we got a heel turn tease from Riddle on RAW.
The Original Bro, who has never been a heel in WWE, shoved Xavier Woods after the match and walked away, indicating a potential character change.
Will Riddle end up turning instead of Randy Orton?
