6 things WWE subtly told us on RAW: Big face turn in main event, Title challenger revealed (11th November 2019)

Another episode of Monday Night RAW is in the books and what an episode it was! It was a taped episode that happened in Manchester following SmackDown, so if you avoided spoilers, good on you since it was a pretty solid episode.

We saw the build to Survivor Series continue and it wasn't as invasion-heavy as the last couple of weeks since they were in the UK. That did, however, open the door for a few NXT: UK superstars.

There was one NXT (America) Superstar that appeared and a certain SmackDown star as well. Things are getting interesting as the picture of Survivor Series has become a lot clearer. It's going to be interesting to see how NXT and SmackDown respond and this was the penultimate episode of RAW before Survivor Series.

With just one episode left, things are getting exciting and here's what WWE subtly told us on the show tonight.

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#6 Randy Orton and Ricochet's inevitable rivalry

Randy Orton and Ricochet

A new feud was teased tonight in the main event. Firstly, it appears that Randy Orton has turned face as he stood up to The OC and teamed with two babyfaces in Humberto Carrillo and Ricochet.

Right before the finish of the match, Orton teased hitting an RKO but ended up hitting it on AJ Styles in what was a brilliant sequence. It's incredible how he manages to find various ways to hit the RKO and is always so innovative about it.

Either way, one of the two biggest things that we learned from the main event is that Randy Orton and Ricochet will be feuding down the line. They're in the same Survivor Series team and in all likeliness, Orton could even turn on Ricochet during the match, but in all likeliness, the feud will happen right after.

It would be interesting if it's to be a face vs face feud.

#5 Humberto Carrillo is challenging for the United States title soon

The peacemaker Humberto

In what is a genuinely surprising thing to us, Humberto Carrillo is getting a big push. His stock has been rising since his arrival on Monday Night RAW and despite him not necessarily being the most prolific talent, he has managed to capture the attention of quite a few names backstage.

One would imagine that Paul Heyman is directly responsible for the push he's been getting, but who knows? Either way, it's impressive that Carrillo has become a title challenger right off the bat on the main roster.

He had impressive matches against the likes of Seth Rollins and AJ Styles (who he already lost to once in a title match) but fell short, being the more inexperienced Superstar. However, RAW was his night to shine and he took the opportunity when teaming up with Randy Orton and Ricochet.

In another surprising move, Humberto Carrillo even picked up the win for his team, pinning AJ Styles following a devastating RKO from Randy Orton. It's clear that Carrillo is next in line for the United States Championship and we couldn't be more excited!

#4 There's still a twist or two left in the Rusev-Lana-Lashley storyline

Rusev and Lana

Please end this. That's all we're going to keep saying about this storyline. It's so controversial that even Corey Graves, on WWE's official podcast has openly stated his disdain toward the storyline, stating the same thing we are - that he hopes it ends.

Well, the story took yet another twist as Lana announced that she has been pregnant for over nine weeks - and that it's Rusev's. There was that soap opera segment again where Rusev confessed to being a sex addict and Lana is all tense about having a baby.

What is the point of this storyline? Either way, it ended the same as it did every week, with Lana blindsiding Rusev and Bobby Lashley attacking him and walking out with Lana. One can only hope that the payoff of this entire thing is Rusev beating Lashley decisively.

All we know for sure is that the story still has a twist or two left in it. Hopefully, it ends by Survivor Series and with a week left to wrap it all up, don't be surprised to see WWE pull out all the stops.

#3 There are plans for Erick Rowan

Rowan with a cage

Erick Rowan was featured on RAW in an eerie and creepy segment where he seemed to be staring into a cage and talking to it. While we can only speculate what's inside the cage, he came out to the ring with it before he squashed a local enhancement talent.

One can only wonder what exactly WWE has planned, but the positive aspect of this is that WWE has something planned for Rowan. The same can't be said about Luke Harper, who seems to be kept on the sidelines while he waits for his contract to finish up (which is supposed to be November, but it's presumably been extended due to his injury period last year).

WWE has plans for Rowan, but what it is, we're yet to see. It's going to be interesting as long as WWE commits and doesn't randomly axe the storyline as they have with many before. What do you think could be in the cage? What are Rowan's intentions?

#2 The OC has become a huge part of RAW

AJ Styles and The OC

While AJ Styles with The Club in 2016 was fantastic, the faction was put together more for feuds against Roman Reigns and John Cena before they were eventually separated. This time around, WWE made the right call by not splitting them by brands and now that they're together, they've become far more important than expected.

When AJ Styles rejoined them and turned heel a few months ago, it seemed to be a repeat of the story a few years ago, but The OC has gone on to become one of the most important and consistently featured set of performers on RAW.

That's a great thing because Gallows & Anderson had a long stretch over the past two years where they simply weren't featured that much. They're now the "Best tag team in the world" and from the look of things, will be an integral part of helping AJ Styles at Survivor Series when he takes on Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong.

#1 Spin-off rivalries from Survivor Series

What a team!

Monday Night RAW's team was announced and it's stacked beyond words! A team captained by Seth Rollins featuring Kevin Owes, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, and Ricochet is a dream one but in reality, they're probably going to face defeat.

It's always RAW who walks out tall at Survivor Series with SmackDown taking the fall, but this time around, that may not be the case. Since SmackDown is on FOX and there will be pressure to keep the brand strong, while WWE needs to keep NXT strong against AEW, team RAW may end up taking the fall to the most part.

In the men's team, getting there is easy. There's already the prospect of the inevitable Ricochet-Randy Orton feud and we could even see a feud between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre spin-off from the entire thing. Where Kevin Owens fits into the mix, we're not sure, but hopefully, he gets a feud soon and can be featured regularly. It's been a very mixed 2019 for him and we hope it ends well.