WWE Raw: 3 biggest questions from this week’s episode (February 18, 2019)

Fans were hoping for WWE to pull off a good episode of Raw the night after Elimination Chamber, and WWE did not disappoint much, for the most part at least. While there were a few weak bookings during the night, the addition of four top NXT superstars made things much better.

Baron Corbin and Braun Strowman competed in yet another match which saw Strowman driving Corbin through a table to win the match. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins took on The Lucha House Party in a losing effort which will hopefully help the two former partners build a better story going forward.

Apart from these two matches, there were a few exciting and some dull spots which sent the night through a number of speed bumps on its way home. At the end of the night, we were left with 3 big questions that need to be addressed so as to keep the fans involved.

So let's have a look at the 3 biggest questions from this week’s episode...

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#3 Where does Dean Ambrose stand in the Raw roster?

McIntyre dominated Ambrose for most of the match

Once one of the top guys in the company, Ambrose has found himself in a bad place in recent months. Since losing the Intercontinental Championship and the subsequent news of him leaving the company after WrestleMania 35, Ambrose has been pushed way down the roster by WWE.

When Ambrose arrived on the main roster as a part of The Shield from NXT, he was thought to be the star who would shine the brightest out of the trio. However, Seth Rollins took that spot and Roman Reigns got the best push while Ambrose too was successful.

Today we wonder what WWE is trying to do with Ambrose prior to his departure. Two clean loses to EC3, followed by a near squash by Drew McIntyre has decreased Ambrose’s value and image which rode high just six months ago.

Where does Ambrose stand in the Raw roster today, and what does WWE plan to do if the news of his departure is not a work after all.

#2 Are NXT superstars superior to Raw superstars?

Ricochet and Balor put on a great performance

To the excitement of every single diehard WWE fan, four top NXT stars made their main roster debuts on Raw last night. Tommaso Ciampa, Jhonny Gargano, Ricochet, and Aleister Black all got a chance to show the world what NXT superstars are built of and why there has been so much hype around the brand for the past few years.

Even though it was obvious that all four men will make an initial impact on Raw, few would have imagined that they would clean sweep the results at the end of the night.

Ricochet pinned Lio Rush to win the match that was set up between the teams of Ricochet and Finn Balor, and Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush.

Aleister Black unsurprisingly scored a win over Elias, while the most surprising match and the result saw the Raw Tag Team Champions losing to Ciampa and Gargano.

With such big victories, are the flagship brand superstars inferior in any way to the top NXT talent? Well, that’s what was made evident in last night’s episode of Raw.

#1 How did Ruby Riott get another shot at the title?

Monday Night's match was a much better one between the two

Just a couple of nights ago, Ronda Rousey absolutely squashed Ruby Riott to the utter disappointment of fans. Riott is one of the best female wrestlers in WWE today and a squash loss to her was definitely a big blow to her career.

Whether that was done to save time so that the Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair’s involvement could be given more time or just to show Ronda’s dominance remains a mystery, but what was surprising was that Riott got another shot at the championship just one night later.

Many women, such as Sasha Banks and Bayley, have put up far better matches up against Ronda Rousey and deserved a second chance that they didn’t get. Riott getting a second shot at the title after such a bad loss puts many question marks over the creatives decisions and whether Raw is actually deprived of top female talent with Sasha and Bayley holding the Women’s Tag Team titles now.