7 things WWE subtly told us on RAW: Elimination Chamber result spoiled, Former US Champion's push ends again?

While we know that WWE's shows in Saudi Arabia have no real impact on the progression of storylines, we were slightly disappointed at what we felt was more of a filler episode of RAW. It was the second-last episode before Super ShowDown and we don't know much of what's happening on the show apart from a few matches.

This episode of RAW started on a high note and ended with a big return, but despite the overall lack of progress on the episode, there were quite a few things hinted at with regards to the future direction of things - especially WrestleMania.

Without going much further, let's take a look at the things WWE subtly told us on RAW.

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#7. Did WWE spoil the Elimination Chamber match result?

A big-money match

WWE announced that at Elimination Chamber, six women will go at it to determine Becky Lynch's next title challenger at WrestleMania 36. The battlefield consists of Natalya, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Asuka, and Shayna Baszler.

Given Baszler's attack on Becky Lynch last week and this week's segment, it seems clear as day that Shayna Baszler is going to win the Elimination Chamber match. Her run in NXT is done and she began a feud against Becky Lynch last week by biting her neck.

She cut a great promo this week, perhaps one of the best of her career and Becky Lynch said that she would be "rooting" for her. Given the other competitors in the match, it seems far too obvious that Baszler will win.

Either way, we hope that we get a great match out of it. It won't be as bad if the overall Chamber match delivers.

#6 Nothing for Rusev

Another day, another pinfall loss

It's sad to see, but it's not surprising, to say the least. In a way, it's just history repeating itself with Rusev. He takes less-than-average material given to him, makes the most of it, gets over big as a babyface - only for nothing to be done with it. He's lost his push again.

It's incredible to think that in over four and a half months of this rivalry - not once has Rusev gotten a payoff himself. Every time he's stepped in the ring with Bobby Lashley he's lost - except the one time where he teamed up with Liv Morgan in a mixed tag team match - and it was the latter who ended up getting the pin and win.

The same story continued except WWE has seemingly taken their foot off the gas with the storyline and decided that no payoff is necessary to wrap it all up. This week, Rusev teamed with Humberto Carrillo to take on Angel Garza and Bobby Lashley and it was the rising star Garza who got the pin on Rusev.

Despite the Bulgarian standing tall, the outcome is unsurprisingly disappointing.

#5 Aleister Black could start getting involved in serious storylines

A solid match on RAW

One of the biggest problems that Aleister Black has faced since his arrival in 2018 is that he's never been in any solid storyline. He's had a few good matches and had a good trilogy against Buddy Murphy, but ultimately, there wasn't too much character work involved.

It's a shame because, at Royal Rumble 2020, they teased him joining Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe against The Monday Night Messiah group, but nothing came to be. However, Black took a break from squashing enhancement talent to take on Erick Rowan in what was the latter's best match in a while.

It's hard to remember when Rowan had a great singles match last but Aleister Black is slowly turning into a machine when it comes to producing good matches. Rowan proved to be a tough test and Black won clean, with WWE possibly teasing something bigger and better for Aleister Black.

What does WWE have in store for Aleister Black at WrestleMania 36 this year?

#4 AJ Styles teasing his WrestleMania match

A rivalry almost renewed on RAW

AJ Styles returned for the first time since the Royal Rumble 2020 and didn't turn face despite previously feuding with Randy Orton. It only makes sense since WWE hasn't rushed a face turn like they did the first time in 2017 (although they didn't need to this time).

Before Ricochet came out and confronted him before taking on Karl Anderson, we noticed that Styles cut a promo comparing him to some of the all-time greats and called himself "Mr. WrestleMania".

This seems to be a clear indicator of his WrestleMania direction, i.e, The Undertaker. The rumor mill has been buzzing about an AJ Styles-Undertaker match at WrestleMania 36 and there's no other reason why that promo was cut.

Sure, he didn't stand tall on the night, but this is going to be a huge match for AJ Styles. This is a match that many felt should have happened during his first WWE run and it'll mark The Undertaker's first WrestleMania match in two years!

#3 An easy build for Drew McIntyre's momentum

Easy work

WWE has done a great job with the way they've handled Drew McIntyre these past few months. It's a simple but effective method - in the initial period, don't make the superstar the centerpiece of programming, but at the same time, protect them and start giving them a string of wins. The undefeated streak needs to continue without being heavily mentioned while the superstar must be regularly featured on television.

And then, just like that, they're ready for a big spot. That's exactly what happened with Drew McIntyre in 2020, Dean Ambrose/Jon Moxley in the second half of 2016, and Sheamus in 2012.

Since Brock Lesnar hasn't been appearing much in February and has Ricochet to focus on for Super ShowDown, WWE is understandably keeping Lesnar and McIntyre away from each other while teasing a confrontation.

Sadly, this spoils the result of the WWE title match at Super ShowDown, but it would be foolish to assume that Ricochet would beat him. McIntyre beat MVP on RAW and it's been a simple but effective way of keeping his momentum alive.

#2 Getting incredible heat for WrestleMania

Randy Orton with a vicious assault

The show started in a slightly depressing way, with Matt Hardy confronting Randy Orton. While Hardy was supposed to face Orton in a No Holds Barred match, he wasn't cleared to compete.

While Orton walked away and tried to tell Matt Hardy that he respected him, he would go back and hit the injured legend with an RKO. However, the brutality didn't stop there. He assaulted him the same way he assaulted Edge.

This time, it may have been Matt Hardy's last appearance for WWE. While we can't confirm that, it's no secret that his contract expires in early March 2020. While Jeff Hardy is expected to return soon, this may have been WWE's way of writing Matt Hardy out of the storyline.

If so, we'll miss Matt Hardy and he's been utilized to get as much heat on Randy Orton as possible. That's a great idea and it'll lead to a huge pop when Edge returns to programming again.

This is the most heat Orton has gotten in years.

#1 The uprising

An...interesting ending

The high point of the show was, unfortunately, the appearance of The Street Profits. The former NXT Tag Team Champions haven't done too much since joining Monday Night RAW, except for the comedy segment time and again.

They were briefly in title contention but were unsuccessful and went back to comedy segments. The main event of RAW was a six-man tag team match between Kevin Owens and The Viking Raiders against Buddy Murphy and AoP.

It wasn't all that exciting and Seth Rollins interjected, causing a disappointing DQ. The Monday Night Messiah group then ganged up on Kevin Owens and began an assault until The Street Profits showed up and saved the day.

It was dubbed as "The uprising" and we won't be surprised to see more superstars join the fray. This storyline is likely to wrap up before WrestleMania anyway - or it'll directly lead to Seth Rollins' WrestleMania opponent.

Either way, it's a better utilization of The Street Profits than their comedy segments. All we can hope is that RAW picks up better next week.