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Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on the RAW before Hell in a Cell 2020! It wasn't a bad episode, but it certainly felt like a bizarre one. A few highlights we'll be skipping is Asuka retaining the RAW Women's title against Lana, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler holding an "open challenge" with no title on the line, Titus O' Neil trying to join The Hurt Business and getting beaten up, along with Otis disguising as a big Luchador to help Tucker defeat The Miz and John Morrison.
Let's jump right into this bizarre episode of RAW!
#6 WWE makes a big error with RETRIBUTION on RAW?
The start of the season premiere of RAW was incredible. Anytime The Fiend’s sound effect hits and then the music, there’s a special feeling. Alexa Bliss was already in the ring and she told everyone to “Let him in”. With a sinister look, she introduced The Fiend back to RAW. However, they had some surprise guests in the form of RETRIBUTION who quickly surrounded the ring.
There was a large sense of excitement with the confrontation, especially since T-BAR had an interaction with The Fiend and Alexa Bliss. However, the duo of The Fiend and Alexa Bliss would vanish when the lights went off, avoiding any major confrontation. The Hurt Business showed up and the brawl led to a match.
RETRIBUTION lost once again - this time, with T-Bar tapping out to Bobby Lashley. It seemed like a waste to have RETRIBUTION lose the way they did. But the entire booking of RAW was a bit questionable today.
Either way, The Fiend came out again and wreaked havoc, taking out the RETRIBUTION members and staring down The Hurt Business across the ramp. It was an interesting crossover and The Fiend has already been established as the biggest force on Monday Night RAW.
We also saw a special edition of the Firefly Fun House on RAW featuring Alexa Bliss' debut on the show.
#5 Did we get a preview of hell on RAW?
Randy Orton closed RAW inside Hell in a Cell. He specifically asked for it to be lowered and cut a promo, essentially highlighting his experience inside Hell in a Cell.
While Drew McIntyre might be the face of RAW, he is only entering his first Hell in a Cell match whereas this will be Orton's ninth time inside the demonic structure. He spoke about his accomplishments like defeating Daniel Bryan, John Cena and becoming the WWE Champion among other things.
However, he revealed that the pinnacle was him standing toe-to-toe with The Undertaker having earned his respect. Drew McIntyre didn't seem to care too much about what Randy Orton said and he wanted to get in the cage which was sealed by a steel chain.
Conveniently enough, Drew McIntyre pulled out a bolt cutter of and simply snapped the chain with ease. RAW ended with a confrontation that we don't know the outcome of. However, the outcome of their Hell in a Cell match could see a seismic shift in power on RAW, with Randy Orton expected to win the WWE Championship for the 14th time in his illustrious career.
#4 AJ Styles gets some reinforcement on RAW
AJ Styles is back on RAW after a brief stint on SmackDown. He left the Red brand following real-life issues with then-Executive Director, Paul Heyman. After Heyman was removed from his post on RAW, he would align with Roman Reigns on SmackDown, once again sending Styles the other way.
AJ Styles essentially feels like a trade for Seth Rollins, which is more than fair. While we’re not sure how he will fare on RAW, the indication seems to be that he will be a main eventer as usual. He faced his brief SmackDown rival Matt Riddle, who was also drafted to RAW.
What was noticeably different, however, is the fact that AJ Styles has a new bodyguard, Jordan Omogbehin. He did a good job in his role, stopping the referee from DQing Styles while also assisting The Phenomenal One in defeating Matt Riddle.
It’ll be interesting to see how AJ Styles does with a new bodyguard. It seems to suit his character well and could be a fun direction going forward. The big question is whether AJ Styles will find the same success on RAW that he did on SmackDown.
#3 The spirit of The New Day is alive on RAW
The New Day are RAW Tag Team Champions for the first time in almost four years. In fact, the Championships were rebranded after their historic reign that surpassed Demolition. Either way, two-third of The New Day are on RAW while Big E is on SmackDown.
The initial indication seemed to be that The New Day was well and truly done, but given the nature of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods’ promo, it appears as though it’ll be an arrangement where Big E represents The New Day on SmackDown while Kingston and Woods do so on RAW.
Kofi Kingston faced Sheamus for the first time in nine years and defeated him in a solid but lengthy match-up. There hasn’t yet been a tease of who will be their first tag team title challengers. Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler have gone over to SmackDown, so they’re not available. With a lack of overall teams on the WWE roster, which tag team will step up to face The New Day for the RAW Tag Team Titles?
#2 Elias shines on RAW until the end
When Elias returned on RAW, he targeted Jeff Hardy. The reason behind it was that Jeff Hardy was framed as the attacker of a DUI accident. As it turns out, Sheamus was behind it and we had that whole story wrapped up on SmackDown.
Both Elias and Jeff Hardy were drafted to RAW and that's where it all begins now. Elias had quite the showing, getting the opportunity to perform two whole songs before going for the encore and getting upstaged by a man in a hoodie and a mask playing a guitar solo.
Of course, it was Jeff Hardy - a man who happens to be a musician himself. Elias' mini-concert on RAW was ruined and Jeff Hardy attacked him and almost smashed him with a guitar.
It feels like a mid-card feud on RAW but a relatively entertaining one. However, we're still not sure why WWE gave Elias time to perform two full songs on RAW.
#1 An underwhelming clash of behemoths on RAW
That was odd, to say the least. Keith Lee and Braun Strowman went head-to-head on RAW and given how almost every match of The Limitless One ends with a dusty finish, the assumption was that it would be the same here.
It was, except there wasn’t a disqualification on RAW. Braun Strowman seemingly took a page off Roman Reigns’ book and hit Keith Lee in his private parts with his head. He took advantage and pinned Lee, but soon after he was celebrating, Keith Lee returned the favor.
He said that Braun Strowman maybe the monster, but he’s the dragon. While we get that WWE wants to continue this feud on RAW while protecting Keith Lee, this didn’t seem like a good way to go about it.
This feud between the two behemoths on RAW will be continuing. It may not spill onto PPV, but it is a solid TV feud. All it needs is to be presented much better. Keith Lee holding his private parts while talking trash wasn’t the best look for him.
Bayley gives us a HUGE update on a top Superstar's upcoming return RIGHT HERE.
