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Last night's RAW continued to build toward Survivor Series, where the two main roster shows will meet in brand warfare again, with NXT joining them for the first time. Survivor Series has been accused of meaning little in its modern iterations, given that the brand warfare won't continue, but there are still some long term booking implications that came out of last night's show.
Who got the most of it and who got the least? Let's take another look at the action from the RAW that came on Veterans Day in the United States.
Losers: Becky Lynch and Asuka
The night started hot with Asuka and Kairi Sane defending their tag team titles against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, who were forced into an alliance yet again. The action was great, but like in so many other circumstances, the company's booking tropes undercut it at the end.
Shayna Baszler was watching all of this and hopped the guardrail. Bayley ambushed the NXT Women's Champion in payback. The distraction allowed Asuka to roll up Becky Lynch for a pin.
The old distraction rollup is just that...old. It almost never helps anybody. Becky Lynch took a loss on television while Asuka, who submitted her cleanly at the Royal Rumble, now looks weaker because she can't beat her any other way anymore. Becky Lynch will probably get her win back in December in a much more decisive fashion, and that will be that. The filler feud will be over.
WWE seriously needs to think of new ways to build feuds, because all of this is just underwhelming at this point. The stale, formulaic booking is one of the twin problems plaguing the company's creative process (the other being the over-producing and over-scripting of everything they get their hands on).
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre always seems to be in this position. He squashes people and then quickly becomes irrelevant. Remember at this point last year when Drew McIntyre was seemingly a sleeper favorite to win the Royal Rumble? That looks far away right now. Still, compared to his near-total absence for a while, this is a point from which he could potentially get back on the right track.
The squash over Sin Cara was just that, a squash. Will it lead to a bigger push for him down the line, perhaps in 2020? History would suggest not, but if it were to happen, it would have to start somewhere. I suppose there's no better place to start than right here and right now.
What is Drew McIntyre's ceiling? Can he at least get into mid-card title contention on Monday Night RAW, or is it always to be a utility player of sorts?
Loser: Rusev
This angle just gets worse with each passing week. This time, Lana faked a pregnancy (announcing that she was carrying Rusev's child) only for the "Bulgarian Brute" to fall to an ambush by Bobby Lashley.
Lana then told everyone that she was never pregnant and it was all a ruse.
If this angle is designed to humiliate Rusev, it's working, although it reflects poorly on the company more so than him. With Rusev's contract status still up in the air, one has to wonder if this is a coercive attempt to get him to re-sign or failing that, dent his value elsewhere.
Think back to two years ago, when Rusev was among the most popular stars in the company with the Rusev Day act which proved to be a hit. WWE ended it for no real reason. Apparently, this is better.
It's stuff like this which is the reason why more fans are losing faith in the company at a faster pace than ever before.
