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This week's episode of RAW was certainly an interesting one. While the overall episode wasn't impressive, the central storyline featuring the WWE Championship was enough to keep fans hooked from the first minute.
We ended the show with a ground-breaking title change, but we will get to that later. There are only a few more episodes of RAW left until WrestleMania 37, and a lot of what will happen as we head towards the Grandest Stage Of Them All.
Here are some of the best and worst bits of RAW this week.
#3 Best: Charlotte Flair's entire RAW appearance
There was a lot to like about Charlotte Flair on RAW this week. To nobody's surprise, she declared her interest in facing Asuka for the RAW Women's Championship at WrestleMania 37.
This would make it the sixth year in a row that she is involved in a big title match at WrestleMania. However, there's a certain edge to her character now that we haven't necessarily seen before.
She acknowledged Asuka as the RAW Women's Champion and fully praised her for the work she's done on the red brand. While stating that she is a deserving Champion, Charlotte Flair didn't hide her intentions.
The fact that Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair already chose Sasha Banks as her WrestleMania opponent was more incentive for The Queen to make her declaration. But it was never going to be that easy.
Last year's RAW Women's title challenger, Shayna Baszler, appeared with Nia Jax, and she presented a hurdle for The Queen. Despite Jax's attempted interference, Flair managed to finish Baszler with the Natural Selection - taking one step closer to the RAW Women's title match at WrestleMania 37.
One thing is for sure - Charlotte Flair won't be the heel in this feud. She has made a tweak to her character and did nothing to make herself seem liked by anyone. Despite this, she maintained her role as a babyface, finally being able to draw the line. It was one of her best promos to date, and we're excited to see her evolve in this form.
We presume that RAW Women's Champion Asuka will be back next week to respond after having her tooth broken on the 22nd of February.
#3 Worst: Giving away Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus on RAW
This was one of the best matches on RAW in a while, and we shouldn't be surprised, since almost any bout Drew McIntyre has been in this past year has been fantastic.
The match on RAW between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus confirms that there won't be a fight between the two at WrestleMania this year. However, we expected these two to collide at Fastlane.
It was a hard-hitting and physical match-up on RAW between the two longtime friends, and it had the feel of a brawl. Drew Mcintyre walked out as the winner after a hard-fought battle that lasted half an hour.
The bout itself was fantastic, but we will categorize this as the "worst" of RAW because WWE had a major PPV match in their hands, and they just gave it away on free television.
With a week or two more focused on the build, it could have even determined the WWE title direction, if Drew McIntyre is still involved in the discussion at WrestleMania 37 (which we expect him to be).
#2 Best: Braun Strowman's WrestleMania direction being revealed on RAW
Braun Strowman hasn't been an important part of RAW in the first couple of months, but we now seem to understand where he is heading. If you recall, authority figure Adam Pearce suspended The Monster Among Men on RAW late last year, which was used as a storyline reason to write him off due to an injury.
Strowman has since been butting heads with both Pearce and Shane McMahon, and that's where we seem to be headed this year for The Grandest Stage Of Them All. Braun Strowman doesn't have a marquee WrestleMania match, but after this episode of RAW, his match against Shane McMahon at the Showcase Of Immortals seems certain.
Shane McMahon made Strowman team up with Adam Pearce to challenge Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander for the RAW Tag Team titles. The former Universal Champion had the match won, but Shane forced him to tag Pearce in, and the latter took too long, getting pinned by Benjamin instead.
The RAW Tag Team titles are still with The Hurt Business, but Shane McMahon was unable to explain why he pressured Strowman into making an unnecessary tag.
#2 Worst: Riddle suffers early title adversity on RAW
Riddle teamed up with The Lucha House Party to face RETRIBUTION in a six-man tag team match on RAW. Of course, the babyfaces won, and it seemed like RETRIBUTION was done for on RAW.
Instead, Mustafa Ali took matters into his own hands. He challenged Riddle to a non-title match and was granted his wish. Thanks to some help from Reckoning and the other RETRIBUTION members, Ali picked up the win over the United States Champion.
Riddle vs Ali seems to be the next title direction, and while RETRIBUTION and its leader needed the win, we feel it was too early for Riddle to lose. He had a good performance on RAW last week against John Morrison.
Perhaps there could have been a better way for Ali to emerge into the US title picture on RAW. Either way, we don't expect Ali to defeat The Original Bro, but it was an unnecessary setback for a superstar who has momentum on his side.
It will make little sense for the match to happen on RAW next week since Fastlane desperately needs some matches to fill the card.
#1 Best: Bobby Lashley's ultimate moment on RAW
The biggest tease throughout the night on RAW was the Bobby Lashley-The Miz match. While it was supposed to happen in the first hour, The A-Lister faked a cramp, pushing the match to the top of the second hour of RAW.
This time, The Miz ran away, getting himself counted out. A furious Shane McMahon declared that if The A-Lister didn't defend the WWE Title in the main event of RAW, he would be stripped of it, and Lashley would become the new Champion by default.
The third hour finally came, and at the end of RAW, Shane McMahon declared that it was a lumberjack match. This finally served Lashley well and he destroyed The Miz as predicted, winning the WWE Championship. It was a great win and well-deserved for The All Mighty.
Bobby Lashley has finally realized his dream and become the WWE Champion on RAW.
The All Mighty will now march forward to WrestleMania 37 as the WWE Champion. Who will he defend it against? Right now, the only options seem to be Drew McIntyre and Brock Lesnar. The latter, unfortunately, doesn't even have a WWE contract that we know of.
#1 Worst: The Randy Orton-Alexa Bliss story gets increasingly bizarre on RAW
Randy Orton was backstage on RAW this week, similar to the previous episode. He wasn't able to explain the black liquid that was oozing out of his mouth, but The Viper knew that Alexa Bliss was behind it.
We're not sure where this story is heading on RAW, but there were a lot of twists and turns tonight. This week, Kayla Braxton told Randy Orton to look behind, where Alexa Bliss appeared on the TV. Orton started coughing again, but there was no black liquid.
Instead, he was shocked to see himself appear on the screen. It seemed to be The Fiend doing the talking...inside his body? WWE seems to be trying something different on RAW, but we're not sure it's working.
It's considerably different from the feud that Orton and Bray Wyatt had in 2017, and this time, there is a far bigger supernatural element to it all. When will Bray Wyatt return? It's been nearly three months now. On top of that, there are only four episodes of RAW before WrestleMania 37.
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