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The first episode of WWE RAW following the Clash of Champions PPV seemed much longer than three hours. The opening segment of the show saw Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Christian, and Big Show return. Drew McIntyre thanked them all for helping him in his match against Randy Orton at Clash of Champions and then issued an open challenge for his title.
However, McIntyre insisted that it should be someone who has never faced him before. And thus, Robert Roode returned to face the Scottish Psychopath for the WWE Championship in the main event of the show. The final minutes of WWE RAW then saw Randy Orton come back and brutally attack all the legends, when they were backstage.
The show also marked the return of a former WWE RAW Superstar who will now be a part of the tag team division. WWE teased the arrival of RETRIBUTION, but it turned out to be a false alarm. Overall, the show was alright. It certainly had its fair share of good and bad performers.
In this article we will take a look at three WWE RAW Superstars who flopped tonight and three who impressed.
#3 Impressed on WWE RAW: Zelina Vega
At Clash of Champions, Asuka successfully defended her WWE RAW Women’s Championship against Zelina Vega. The champion even wanted to show her respect for Vega following the match, but the latter responded with a surprise attack. As a result, a title rematch was booked between the two Superstars on WWE RAW tonight. Although Asuka once again retained her championship, Vega looked fairly impressive inside the ring.
Both Vega and Asuka engaged in a brutal exchange with The Empress of Tomorrow looking to lock her challenger into a submission move quickly. However, Vega was fast and strategically avoided getting caught in the Asuka lock. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t escape for long. Asuka finally managed to catch Vega into her submission manoeuvre and forced the latter to tap out to retain her title.
While Vega looked good inside the ring, it is important to note that both these Superstars did no share great chemistry inside the ring. She did a good job by stepping up in the absence of some big names on the roster. Asuka should now move on to her next challenger, while the creative team should allow Vega to explore new opportunities on WWE RAW.
After tonight’s match, Andrade walked out and told Vega that she is nothing without him. They both have worked well together, and WWE might put them back together sometime in the future. Tonight’s exchange proved that the process wouldn’t be as smooth. And this might seem like a long shot, but WWE could also test an alliance between Vega and Aleister Black on WWE RAW.
#3 Flopped on WWE RAW: Andrade
WWE RAW Superstar Andrade is now left all alone on the red brand. Last night, he teamed up with Angel Garza to challenge The Street Profits for the WWE RAW Tag Team Championships. The champions retained their titles, and unfortunately, Garza sustained an injury.
Tonight, Andrade came on WWE RAW and immediately took shots at Zelina Vega – his former manager. He went on to point that she is ‘nothing’ without him.
Andrade then demanded someone to come out and fight him, and it was Keith Lee who decided to take this opportunity, and the two were engaged in a short encounter. Andrade kickstarted the match by grappling Lee, but the latter proved to be too strong. Although Andrade went on to dominate most of the match, the last few seconds saw Lee absolutely crush his opponent and pick up a swift victory.
We shouldn't hold him entirely responsible for this result because it was evident that WWE wanted him to put Lee over. However, he did appear slightly off inside the ring as he looked slow, distracted, and nothing like his usual self.
WWE's creative team must refrain from booking Andrade to make him seem weak. He can prove to be a good challenger for Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship. In the absence of Garza and Vega, this is the chance that WWE have to push him into the world title picture, even if he doesn’t win it.
#2 Impressed on WWE RAW: Buddy Murphy
There are multiple reasons why WWE RAW Superstar Buddy Murphy made this list.
Rey Mysterio and his entire family appeared in the King’s court. There, Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler brought up Seth Rollins’ comments about Mysterio not being the real father of his daughter, Aalyah. During the conversation, Aalyah insisted that she has nothing to do with Buddy Murphy despite the perceived closeness between the two last week on WWE RAW.
Soon after that, Rollins interfered and revealed that she had indeed been texting with Murphy and shared a screenshot from Murphy’s phone. Yes, the Monday Night Messiah also steals when he is not sacrificing WWE RAW Superstars for the greater good. Aalyah walked away from her family, and Murphy confronted Rollins backstage. This was the first time he actually stepped up to Rollins and told him to stay out of his business.
But before Murphy could do anything else, he was attacked by Dominik Mysterio. Later that night, the two locked horns in a singles match on WWE RAW and were engaged in a compelling encounter. Both Dominik and Mysterio took every chance to brutally punish each other before Dominik got his hands on a kendo stick. But as soon as he closed in on attacking his opponent with his weapon in hand, Aalyah walked out and interfered in their match.
As a result, Murphy got an opportunity to catch Dominik from behind and roll him up to pick up a quick win. An agitated Dominik went on to attack Murphy, and Aalyah begged her brother to stop. Dominik responded by calling her naïve and Aalyah slapped him. This feud will guarantee the continued presence of the Mysterio family on WWE RAW.
Everything about Murphy today – from standing up to Seth Rollins, to his match with Dominik Mysterio, his smart in-ring presence, and most importantly, his chemistry with Aalyah, made him look like a credible Superstar. Yes, the angle is bound to invite controversy, but that has not stopped WWE from booking such storylines in the recent past.
#2 and #1 Flopped on WWE RAW: Lana and Natalya
On tonight's episode of WWE RAW, we saw Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke arrive on the Red brand, and are now a teaming up together. They locked horns with Natalya and Lana in an extremely underwhelming match. Given that Lana and Natalya were already competing on RAW, one would usually expect both Superstars to deliver a strong performance against someone who has just arrived on the brand. But things seemed different in this case.
Although the match was average, both Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke made an effort to look strong inside the ring. Lana and Natalya, on the other hand, seemed out of place on several occasions.
WWE RAW might want to be careful with the booking of Natalya and Lana moving forward, or else, there will hardly be anyone left who can pose as a credible threat in the absence of Superstars like Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Shayna Baszler, and more.
It would have been better if the match between the team of Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke and Lana and Natalya established all the Superstars as stronger contenders in the women's division. After Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax are done feuding with The Riott Squad, they will look for more competitors on WWE RAW. Hence, WWE needs to ensure that their Superstars appear stronger in the ring, in the coming weeks.
#1 Impressed on WWE RAW: Aleister Black
After being blindsided and brutally attacked by Aleister Black on WWE RAW last week, Kevin Owens sought vengeance tonight. He faced Black in a brilliant encounter that ended in disqualification. However, unlike other matches, this one actually made Black look strong and ensured that this feud would continue.
Inside the ring, both Owens and Black went at each other as soon as the bell rang. They continued to take turns when it came to dominating the match, and Black looked stronger on most occasions. Kevin Owens went above and beyond to ensure that Black went over in the match.
The closing moments of the match saw Aleister Black accidentally strike the official. The referee called for the bell and the match ended in a disqualification, and Kevin Owens was the winner. When Black turned back, KO delivered a well-executed Stunner to make a statement before walking away. Things are far from over between these two Superstars.
Aleister Black walked out to a new entrance theme, which seems to suit him well. Even before the match, he cut a good promo in which he called out Kevin Owens for his nature that prompts him to betray his allies all the time. This promo made him look more like an anti-hero and less like a heel, but he still looked reasonably vicious.
It appears that W areEW finally going to let Black explore his potential on WWE RAW. Hopefully, they will continue to capitalise on this momentum and give him a well-deserved push on the Red brand.
