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This week's episode of RAW was quite a good one. While last week's episode was the best in a month, this one surpassed it. As with every episode of RAW, there are always going to be a few hiccups. But minus that, the show was great overall.
It was a good way to amp up the build to Hell in a Cell 2021, and the feuds on RAW are shaping up to be exciting, with some fresh directions being taken. Let's jump right into the best and worst parts of RAW:
#3. Best: Riddle, and the R-K-Bro storyline on RAW
Riddle faced Xavier Woods on RAW after their confrontation last week. If you're unaware, here's what happened leading up to it - Randy Orton controversially lost to Kofi Kingston last week on RAW thanks to a distraction from Xavier Woods.
A furious Riddle shoved Xavier Woods down and sided with his tag team partner. While Randy Orton's presence wasn't needed on RAW this week, Riddle did the job for his team.
He had the match of the night on RAW with Xavier Woods, and one of the best parts of the show was the fact that both men were able to showcase their abilities. With crowds returning in less than two months, these are the kind of matches that would undoubtedly get a great reaction from fans.
The finish of the match saw Riddle hit an RKO out of nowhere, indicating that he and Orton would turn into a cohesive unit. With the "odd pairing" storyline, this seems to be a partial repeat of the 2016 storyline between Cesaro and Sheamus.
While the latter had an incredible "Best of 7" series leading up to their tag team, this looks to be going in a similar direction where two polar opposite superstars slowly become a single unit. The Riddle-Xavier Woods match was the highlight of RAW this week.
#3. Worst: Rhea Ripley made to look bad as RAW Women's Champion
It's always great to see Nikki Cross on WWE TV, and this week, it was a direct match against RAW Women's Champion Rhea Ripley. The concept of the match was odd. It was a "Beat The Clock" challenge without any prior match that set the standard in the first place.
The RAW Women's Champion was supposed to beat Nikki Cross within two minutes. Since she was unable to get the job done, Nikki Cross technically won. A Rhea Ripley-Nikki Cross match would be fun to watch, but this wasn't the way to go about it.
The sad part is that Rhea Ripley was the first of two Champions on RAW this week to be badly utilized. If WWE is attempting to establish Rhea Ripley as the next big superstar on RAW, then they need to handle her better than what they're doing now.
In some ways, however, this treatment shouldn't come as a surprise. But Rhea Ripley can bounce back and hopefully more screen time comes around for Nikki Cross.
#2. Best: Asuka vs Charlotte Flair on RAW
While repeated matches on RAW are not always great to watch, we're glad to see that there was an exception. From Riddle vs Woods to Shelton Benjamin vs Cedric Alexander, and Asuka vs Charlotte Flair, RAW had some serious high-quality matches.
We hope that this is the last in a series of matches between Charlotte Flair and Asuka on RAW because it would take away from the value of seeing them in the ring together.
They've had many good matches, and it's only recently that Asuka has begun to pick up a string of wins against her long-time rival.
With that said, the result was different this week. It was an extremely competitive and entertaining match, and Charlotte Flair won with controversy, as Asuka's shoulder seemed to be up while she was being pinned down.
While it likely means that Asuka has been booted out of the RAW Women's Title picture, Charlotte Flair vs Rhea Ripley should be a fun title bout at Hell in a Cell 2021.
#2. Worst: The handling of AJ Styles as RAW Tag Team Champion
AJ Styles is arguably having his worst Championship reign in WWE on RAW. He is a Grand Slam Champion, but one can't help but feel like this RAW Tag Team Title reign is an underwhelming one.
The fact that it took weeks for Styles and Omos to return to RAW says enough, but AJ Styles lost to Jaxson Ryker this week, thanks to some help from Elias.
Last week on RAW, AJ Styles vs Elias ended in a DQ, and this week, Styles was defeated. Omos came out post-match to even the odds, but the handling of AJ Styles as the RAW Tag Team Champion has been bad.
It's clear that the only reason he was in the Tag Team Title match at WrestleMania was because WWE had no other match planned for him. Seeing as how WWE needed to establish Omos, it was the big man who did all the heavy lifting for the team.
Hopefully, we don't see AJ Styles' RAW Tag Team Title reign going on for too long and he returns to the main event picture as a singles competitor when fans return.
#1. Best: Kofi Kingston's involvement in the WWE Title picture on RAW
The WWE Championship picture has taken an interesting turn on RAW. Braun Strowman was pinned at WrestleMania Backlash, and thus, he wasn't anywhere in the conversation. Drew McIntyre, however, is laser-focused on regaining the WWE Title, but there is more than just one obstacle in the way.
Last week on RAW, Kofi Kingston pinned Bobby Lashley, and that meant that he was instantly in the conversation for a WWE Title shot.
Kingston even told Drew McIntyre that he was sick of him getting handed title shot after title shot. Ultimately, this led to a good match between the two men to determine Bobby Lashley's Hell in a Cell opponent.
It ended in a double disqualification, so Adam Pearce re-booked the match for RAW next week.
This time, however, there is unlikely to be any interference. Pearce informed Lashley that if he or MVP even went ringside for the match, he would be suspended for 90 days without pay.
This is the first time since October 2019 that Kofi Kingston has been in contention for the WWE Title, and he adds a lot more to the storyline than Braun Strowman did.
#1. Worst: The ending of RAW
RAW had the wrong main event this week. With the Women's Tag Team Titles on the line in the final match of the night, the assumption was that something big was going to happen.
The match itself was fine, and it was Reginald who accidentally cost Shayna Baszler the match. While walking away, the pyro exploded on the stage and Reginald fell in shock. Tamina and Natalya utilized the opportunity to get the pin and retain their titles.
After the loss, Shayna Baszler went to Reginald and told him that next week on RAW, the two of them will face off in a match. All of this would have been fine if it wasn't the match that ended RAW.
This kind of match and segment is more suited to the mid-point of the show, and hopefully, WWE learns from that mistake and books Drew McIntyre vs Kofi Kingston as a high-stakes main event next week on RAW.
Booking the Women's Tag Team Title match as the one to close the show wasn't the right decision.
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