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Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, Raw returned to the norms we saw last night, delivering a slog of an episode with a lot of fillers that decidedly felt like it was not an episode to build up WrestleMania. The highlight of the show featured Stephanie McMahon, because of course she needed to get herself involved in the hottest angle in the company. Fortunately, it ended in the right way.
Who got the most and least out of last night's episode?
Winner/Loser: Becky Lynch
Becky's night was a bit of an odd one. She had a decent segment with Stephanie McMahon, as in a rarity, the latter got laid out. Unfortunately, the company also played up the injury angle again, with Becky Lynch not being cleared to compete and then being suspended.
All of this smells like an angle for "Shoehorn Charlotte" to worm her way into the match, which is not something that most fans want to see. New era, right?
The interaction between Becky and Rousey afterward was on point, showing again why this should remain a singles match.
Winners: The Revival
For some odd reason, The Revival again are the number one contenders to the Raw Tag Team Championships, even though they've lost three title matches in a row.
This felt like a filler, and it was. The Revival might finally break through, to throw them a bone in certain respects, but there's a good chance they might not, which would render this entire thing pointless.
Raw's Tag Team division remains in shambles, but it was notable that Heavy Machinery was in the match, just a week after they were in a similar match on SmackDown. They should just go to Raw permanently, as the division needs them more right now.
Loser: Drew McIntyre
Before the end of 2018, Drew McIntyre looked like he would be rising to the main event scene. That's clearly been put on hold until after WrestleMania 35, which is understandable, but finding himself involved with Baron Corbin is a great way to cool him off entirely.
After both Corbin and McIntyre defeated Kurt Angle, this segment felt like it was unnecessary. Braun Strowman also got involved, and it now looks like there will be a tag team angle between these four men.
However, I don't think this will have the legs to last two months until WrestleMania, which means that McIntyre's position on the card could be threatened entirely.
It's a conundrum. McIntyre should be kept warm to eventually challenge for the Universal Championship. He'll need to take a backseat for the time being, but this feels like it isn't the right use of him.
Perhaps he'll find himself in a hardcore match of some kind with Strowman at the MetLife Stadium.
Winners: Sasha Banks and Bayley
As expected, Sasha Banks and Bayley qualified for the Elimination Chamber by defeating the random pairing of Alicia Fox and Nikki Cross. Though they'll be the clear favorites in the Chamber, this match made them seem vulnerable enough where fans could be kept second-guessing, which is good, especially since they'll need to do the legwork of carrying the entire match from beginning to end at this point.
As for Nikki Cross, she should have a higher ceiling than tag teaming with Alicia Fox. She should make the move to SmackDown without further delay. If Charlotte Flair is going to work her way into the Lynch vs. Rousey match, Nikki Cross would clearly be the best challenger to Asuka at WrestleMania. A renewal of their crazy, hardcore feud from NXT is easily the best realistic choice for the SmackDown Women's Championship on the road to WrestleMania.
Loser: Elias
Sure, Elias wasn't sacrificed on the altar of part-timers, but it's exactly matches like this that prevent the full-time talent from emerging as larger than life stars. Elias commands crowds like few others do in the company, and he was starting to find his groove as a babyface during the Holidays.
WWE decided to throw all of that away by turning him heel again for the sake of feuding with two men in their 50's. It's insane and this is one of the big reasons why the Women's division feels more star-studded than the men's these days. The women haven't been sacrificed to has-beens for the past decade.
Can you imagine if Becky Lynch found herself involved in angles like this with the likes of Alundra Blayze? It's precisely the fact that she hadn't been on her long road that permitted her to rise to where she is.
This was worse than pointless. It was another marker of how badly WWE's booking is broken.
Loser: EC3
Another week, another "Moment of Bliss" segment that bombs. It's par for the course. EC3 barely got a word in about who he is and what he's all about. Instead, he was the butt of jokes, while Dean Ambrose dragged the segment down even further. Then he went on to have a sloppy match with Dean Ambrose that he barely won.
This is the worst possible way to debut somebody on the main roster. Is anyone unfamiliar with NXT going to care about EC3 now? The company will now have some make up work to do with their presentation of The Top 1%.
Can you imagine if this segment had involved some of the bigger stars on the yellow brand, like any of the six men that stole Superbowl Sunday with Halftime Heat?
It's precisely segments like this that so many people worry about their NXT favorites getting a "promotion," and why Cory Graves got so much protests about his pleas to put Velveteen Dream on Raw or SmackDown.
