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Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on RAW. We'll be skipping through a few rather unimportant matches and segments, but this wasn't the strongest episode of RAW that we've seen.
There could have been a lot that was done better but ultimately, it was the go-home show to Clash of Champions 2020. What happened on the RAW leading up to the PPV where every title must be defended?
#6 That Mysterio family segment on RAW
We’re not sure how exactly to go about describing what happened in the segment, but it has to rank up as potentially the weakest and most cringe-worthy WWE segment of the year. It’s a shame because it involves too much of Rey Mysterio’s family, whereas in reality, it should ideally just be something between Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, and Seth Rollins.
We mentioned that bringing in Rey Mysterio’s family too much on RAW might be detrimental to Dominik and in all of his matches and segments till now, this was by far the worst. It’s a bit unfortunate since he didn’t say anything.
Either way, Seth Rollins came out with what looked like a fake DNA test and tried to run down the old road of how Dominik Mysterio isn’t Rey Mysterio’s biological son.
He then turned it around, suggesting that Aalyah Mysterio isn’t his daughter. He upset his daughter after mentioning that she hasn’t seen anything in the world.
Seth Rollins brought up the fact that she went to Murphy in concern and while we’re no sure as to what the implication is.
After a few segments on RAW, the family was seen backstage and Aalyah was visibly upset at her father, telling him that the only reason she was there was to support Dominik Mysterio. Her brother didn't look good sitting silently in all of this. She walked away, upset at her father's comment about her being a naive 19-year-old.
Murphy even had an interaction with Aalyah, apologizing for hurting her in any way.
We’re not sure what the objective of all this is, but we only have one question - why?
#5 Zelina Vega earns her first singles title shot on RAW
Zelina Vega has only been on RAW for over a year, but she’s been in WWE for well over three years now. When she first joined, her role was one where she essentially helped salvage Andrade’s career from spiraling down. He was a failing babyface that turned heel, but Zelina Vega helped take him to the next level and he would become NXT Champion less than half a year after aligning with her.
Last week, Asuka defeated Mickie James in a RAW Women’s title match and was confronted by Zelina Vega. That was enough to seemingly tease her as the next RAW Women’s title contender, but Zelina Vega had to go through Mickie James this week to get a Clash of Champions title shot against Asuka.
Zelina Vega beat Mickie James in a rather sloppy match, but that was more on Mickie James than it was on Vega. Asuka vs Zelina Vega will mark the latter’s first singles title shot in over three years in WWE.
Asuka faced Peyton Royce after the latter challenged her and while she was expected to win clean, the RAW Women's Champion won by DQ after an attack from Zelina Vega. She was driven away from the ring.
Vega recently spoke about her interactions with Vince McMahon and he has been full of praise for her. While she’s just a filler RAW Women’s title opponent, this could just be the start of bigger things.
#4 Aleister Black ensures the feud with Kevin Owens isn't over/ Braun Strowman dominates RAW Underground
Shane McMahon went to promote the biggest fight (literally) on RAW Underground so far, as the undefeated Dabba Kato would take on Braun Strowman. Shane McMahon went to The KO Show on RAW to promote the match and it led to a bit of tension between the two former rivals despite Kevin Owens stating that it was all “water under the bridge”.
Dabba Kato would come out and Kevin Owens nicely set things up for Braun Strowan to appear as well. Shane McMahon had to separate the RAW Underground star and The Monster Among Men. Braun Strowman ended up defeating the undefeated Dabba Katto in an incredible RAW Underground main event
There was certainly a bit of a tease when it came to Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens, but the segment ended with Aleister Black attacking Kevin Owens again, restarting their rivalry on RAW.
We would normally be a bit surprised if a match with two big superstars wouldn’t be on Clash of Champions 2020, but it might just be one of those rivalries that WWE wants to make a television/RAW feud - and that’s not necessarily a bad things
#3 The RAW Tag Team title challengers and the breakup that hasn't happened
We were admittedly confused when we saw Seth Rollins and Murphy team up again after last week, where Rollins assaulted Murphy after the main event of RAW. It seemed like a certain end but it was presented as a “punishment” for the Australian on RAW. They would team up again to take on Andrade and Angel Garza and Dominik Mysterio and Humberto Carrillo - the latter of which was a thrown-together team.
As expected, Andrade and Angel Garza walked out victorious on RAW and will challenge The Street Profits for seemingly the hundredth time at Clash of Champions 2020. While we thought that the Mexican duo would win at SummerSlam, WWE went with the decision to keep the RAW Tag Team Titles on The Street Profits six months into their reign.
What was interesting, however, was the fact that Seth Rollins abandoned Murphy in the middle of the match.
While their breakup still isn’t official, we’re waiting to see when Murphy has his outburst. Seth Rollins will eventually get that receipt.
#2 RETRIBUTION makes their names and faces partly known on RAW
RETRIBUTION started RAW in the most chaotic manner. They even partly revealed their faces, with Mia Yim, Mercedes Martinez, Dio Maddin, and potentially Dominik Dijakovic being members. The news was broken that RETRIBUTION had signed WWE contracts, meaning that they could cause chaos without consequences. They cut a promo, led by Mia Yim, talking about how The Hurt Business and WWE superstars are all about money and greed while they presented themselves as some sort of version of ANTIFA.
They started wreaking havoc and The Hurt Business, who offered to fight RETRIBUTION to help Adam Pearce and WWE, came out and they were outnumbered after more members of the faction swarmed them.
The Hurt Business had a busy night as well, as Cedric Alexander faced and lost to Apollo Crews.
It led to a main event six-man battle and three of the male members were revealed to be named Slapjack, T-Bar and Mace. They would face off against Cedric Alexander, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin, with the match ending in a DQ.
Drew McIntyre and the WWE roster would come out to take on RETRIBUTION. It was the first time we saw the RAW locker room unite against RETRIBUTION. McIntyre didn't escape an RKO at the end of the night.
#1 Did Drew McIntyre have his last RAW as WWE Champion?
From the look of things, Keith Lee’s increasing presence on RAW hasn’t resulted in a WWE title shot just yet. Keith Lee faced Drew McIntyre and the two had a fun match to watch. As expected, it was a physical and hard-hitting affair.
However, just like most of Keith Lee’s matches on RAW, it ended with an inconclusive finish as Randy Orton returned and attacked both men with a steel chair. He drove both men away and it seems that with that chair shot, Keith Lee was written out of the WWE title match at Clash of Champions 2020. It will be an ambulance match and Randy Orton cut a nice little promo about it, seeking his 14th World Championship.
In all likeliness, the ambulance stipulation was done to make sure that Drew McIntyre is protected if he’s losing the WWE championship at Clash of Champions. Keith Lee has had a large presence on RAW, but his time to compete for the WWE title hasn’t come just yet.
However, he will likely be competing for it should Randy Orton become WWE Champion. With that said, Orton winning would make the feud on RAW against Drew McIntyre extend for another month, possibly culminating at Hell in a Cell 2020.
