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RAW brought its first showing of the new decade with a mind to building up the Royal Rumble, which is now only 19 days away. With the Road to WrestleMania now underway, who got closer to a match at the big stage and who is aimless right now? Let's take a look at the results from last night's RAW to find out?
Winner: The WWE title scene
No title in the company has been more ambiguous than the WWE Championship itself in recent months. No obvious challenger awaits for Brock Lesnar, either at the Royal Rumble or beyond it.
With this announcement, the company gave us something new, as well as something that could clear up the cobwebs. Instead of having Brock Lesnar be a part of a filler title defense at the Royal Rumble, he will enter the eponymous match itself.
It's obvious he won't win, but whoever eliminates him will be first in line for a title shot, presumably at WrestleMania (this probably means a SmackDown star is winning the Rumble this year - with Roman Reigns being the favorite).
Anyway, on the RAW side of things, it means that anything can happen. The field is wide open and that's something more exciting than we've usually seen.
Brock Lesnar reigning as absentee world champion is beyond played out, but the scramble for his title that will take place in the Royal Rumble match itself is at least something with novelty.
Credit for the company where credit is due. Everyone will at least have a shot at a marquee match now. No obvious favorites exist at the moment to challenge Lesnar.
This will make the Royal Rumble match even more exciting than it usually is. It's a rare case of out of the box thinking.
Winner: Andrade
You could put Andrade and Rey Mysterio in matches together week after week and it wouldn't stop being entertaining. These two knocked our socks off in a series last January and now they're doing it again. This is what the United States Championship should always be about.
And Andrade won in a successful defense of the title. Afterward, he ripped Mysterio's mask off and was attacked backstage, signaling that this rivalry isn't yet over. That's fine by me! But most importantly, Andrade looked like a true champion.
He probably won't carry the title all the way to WrestleMania (US title reigns are never that long nowadays), but he should be involved with it in some way.
Winners: The Street Profits
They didn't win the titles, but the Street Profits continue to do something more important - get and stay over with the crowd.
The Viking Raiders have been so dominant that they might just wind up reigning all the way until WrestleMania, but the Street Profits are the favorites now to take the titles off them, possibly even there.
The Profits are breaking out and 2020 could be their year.
Loser: Charlotte Flair
Once again, Charlotte Flair feels like the odd woman out as the Road to WrestleMania kicks off. Considering that WWE went out of their way to include her in the more natural rivalry between Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey, it feels like a world apart.
Having random matches and attacks involving Sarah Logan doesn't make it seem like there are major plans for Charlotte Flair ahead. I doubt she'll be inserted into the women's battle royal at WrestleMania, of course, but by her standards, this is a big step down.
Winner: Buddy Murphy
After Aleister Black flattened Shelton Benjamin, Buddy Murphy came out and attacked him, signaling that, at least for now, he's not going to be forgotten about despite losing to Black twice in a row.
Round three? Bring it on!
It also means that we might see Buddy Murphy do something cool at the Royal Rumble this year. He won't eliminate Brock Lesnar or win the match, that's for sure, but a good performance could put him on firmer ground.
Loser: The Rollins/AOP vs. Owens/Joe angle
Throughout RAW, Samoa Joe told Kevin Owens that he'd obtained a third man to help them against Seth Rollins and AOP. At the end of RAW, it was revealed as The Big Show, who came back for the first time since late 2018.
The choice was uninspired, however. A lot of full time, more energetic, and more exciting performers could have been involved in this angle instead, while Big Show will disappear again sooner or later.
Last night wasn't a good showing for this angle anyway. It suddenly looks like a mess. What's the point? Where is it going? What does it mean for WrestleMania? Or is it just a week to week thing?
WWE will have to go a long way toward answering these questions. A six man tag at the Royal Rumble is probably a given, but we need something a lot more than that in the long run or we're not going to care.
