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Welcome to this week's edition of things WWE subtly told us on RAW! It was the go-home show to Elimination Chamber, which is a bit odd considering that the PPV had a one-episode build to it.
Thankfully, they have 2 Elimination Chamber matches, with one expected to be announced for the women of SmackDown. If not, WWE messed up by teasing a men's Elimination Chamber match on SmackDown and a Women's one as well.
Either way, this is about RAW and since there are so many talking points for the episode, let's jump right into it.
#8. WWE still being cautious with AJ Styles
AJ Styles suffered a shoulder injury at the Royal Rumble men's match - though we didn't know to what extent it was. Since it's not a head injury, superstars usually work through it and AJ Styles was given the whole month off from wrestling (making on-screen appearances) and he was reportedly cleared before Super ShowDown 2020.
Even so, his role was quite small and not physically taxing, briefly having a match with a beaten-down R-Truth (while breakdancing) before losing to The Undertaker with one chokeslam.
It was all quick and he was advertised to take on Aleister Black in his singles return. Instead, he told the former NXT Champion that he didn't read the contract he signed and made him go up against Karl Anderson first.
After he won, he made him face Luke Gallows and things went down and Aleister Black would suffer a beatdown, with AJ Styles having a match after he was beaten down. He even pinned him the way The Undertaker did, taunting his WrestleMania 36 opponent. It appears that WWE is still being cautious with him.
AJ Styles and Aleister Black will face off at Elimination Chamber 2020.
#7. A downward spiral for Ricochet?
Ricochet had the "biggest" match of his career at WWE Super ShowDown 2020 when he faced Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. The "haters" talked big about how Ricochet stood no chance and as it turns out...they were right.
He lost in a minute and a half and he had to try and bounce back on RAW when he took on Riddick Moss for the 24/7 Championship. An odd match-up, but logical for Ricochet to win and bounce back, right? Wrong.
Ricochet faced Riddick Moss and was handily defeated. It was a bizarre decision but it means one of two things - Ricochet has possibly lost his push heading into WrestleMania season, or this "downward spiral" is a part of the storyline.
We would hope that it's the latter since it aligns with the backstage talk that Ricochet is on Paul Heyman's "list" of superstars to push for the future. While he has a lot to improve, we believe that Ricochet belongs on that list and he is the future.
#6. Drew McIntyre benefiting big from Ricochet's loss
WWE couldn't have had a better opening to RAW. The WWE Champion Brock Lesnar came out, with Paul Heyman in an extra boastful mood following his 89-second squash of Ricochet at WWE Super ShowDown 2020.
Heyman trashed Drew McIntyre and his chances against Lesnar and perhaps took it too far as The Scotsman came out and confronted The Beast Incarnate, looking at him right in the eye without a wink of fear.
While Lesnar was ready to leave, he turned around and McIntyre was smart to it, hitting him with a Claymore kick and leaving. While Lesnar was dazed and exiting, he was hit with another Claymore on the stage.
He ate one more before the challenger stood tall and McIntyre will directly benefit from Lesnar looking like a monster at Super ShowDown 2020 against Ricochet. The reason for that squash was likely to make him look better at the end and whether you like it or not - it worked perfectly in the end.
Also read: 5 reasons why Brock Lesnar squashed Ricochet in 1.5 minutes at Super ShowDown 2020
#5. The WrestleMania picture becomes clearer
The Street Profits had another crack at the RAW Tag Team titles. Since the end of 2019, they've had multiple attempts but have fallen short on all occasions. This time around, things changed and they managed to get the job done, beating Seth Rollins & Murphy to win their first titles on RAW.
It was all thanks to an assist from Kevin Owens, who assisted before running away from AoP. It ended with Murphy accidentally kicking Rollins and being taken out before Montez Ford put the icing on the cake with a frog splash.
From the look of things, The Street Profits will defend the RAW Tag Team titles against AoP and The Viking Raiders at WrestleMania 36 while Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens seems to be the direction that we're going in.
We like that idea since WWE hasn't paid off Rollins vs Owens - a feud that started in December when Rollins was on the verge of turning heel. Hopefully, they get a good spot and a solid match at the show of shows.
The two teams are set to have a rematch at Elimination Chamber.
#4. WWE had no idea what to do with the Rowan storyline
To those of you who hoped for something big to come from the Rowan "cage" storyline, we can only ask one question - what were you expecting?
When WWE manages to pay off a storyline well, they do it better than anyone. However, we can't ignore the reality that most of their storylines that play out over a while don't have a good ending.
The Lana-Rusev-Bobby Lashley storyline was an example of that - with over four months invested in the feud and no proper pay off. Granted, Rusev is reportedly out facing some back issues, but the introduction of Liv Morgan got nowhere and it ended up with nothing.
The same was to be expected in this case and in all likeliness, even WWE didn't know what would be inside the cage while the story was going on. Rowan revealed to No Way Jose and his Conga Line that it's a big spider, scaring them all away.
It was all for nothing and we're not particularly surprised.
#3. Humberto Carrillo getting a title push and Rey Mysterio's role
Humberto Carrillo teamed up with a returning Rey Mysterio to take on his cousin Angel Garza and the United States Champion Andrade - who had his first match on RAW after over a month.
It was a fun and exciting match as expected, with all four Mexican superstars doing a great job with the spot given to them. It was clear that the match was meant to highlight one superstar - Humberto Carrillo.
All four stars did a great job in the ring and in the end, Carrillo got one over the Champion Andrade. It was a great moment for him and it also became clear that he's set for a United States Championship push.
He could end up winning it as soon as Elimination Chamber (though the match hasn't been announced just yet) and walk into WrestleMania 36 as the Champion. However, we feel that Andrade should head into the show of shows with the title and drop it to Carrillo then.
#2. WWE holding back on Asuka vs Shayna Baszler
Regardless of what you might say about WWE's treatment of The Kabuki Warriors, the higher-ups undoubtedly value Asuka as a top name in the Women's division. She'll never be "the woman" in the division but even while being the longest-reigning Women's Tag Team Champion, she's still viewed as a big singles star.
That's why she had that feud with Becky Lynch at the Royal Rumble - a match that was a lot better than people give it credit for. Shayna Baszler made her RAW in-ring debut on the latest episode and was advertised to take on Asuka, but The Empress was pulled from the match with an injury and replaced by Kairi Sane.
Shayna Baszler had a great showing in her RAW debut and had a rematch from Evolution 2018, this time beating Sane with more ease. It was a great display for her and to establish her as a submission artist and Sane did a great job selling for her as well.
Becky Lynch was on commentary, but apart from her fancy new jacket, there was nothing notable about her appearance.
#1. The shocking end to RAW
After the latest episode of RAW, we can safely say that this is the best work Randy Orton has done in over half a decade. We're struggling to think back when in the 2010s Orton was this hot and although he had a great storyline with The Wyatt Family in 2016-17 (with an awful pay off), his character work of late has been some of the best of the latter half of his career.
He assaulted Edge, which led to him assaulting Matt Hardy and essentially writing him off storyline for him to see his contract through. This week, Beth Phoenix came to talk about what Randy Orton did to Edge and give an update, but The Viper came out and explained a long story as to why he did what he did to Edge.
None of it justified what he did and he looked as sadistic and psychopathic as ever trying to reason with an emotional Beth Phoenix. Plus points to Phoenix for crying and making the segment as good as it was.
She took an RKO like a pro at the end, with many superstars of the roster coming out to check on her. It just added a whole new element to the story.
