WWE RAW: 4 things we learned from this week’s episode (March 04, 2019)

The March 4 edition of Raw was based on building the existing storylines en route to Fastlane and WrestleMania 35.

Last week, we were pleasantly surprised by a few returns and promos, but this week WWE kept things on the low.

Last week, Ronda Rousey left the Raw Women's Championship with Stephanie McMahon alongside an ultimatum - reinstate Becky Lynch or no WrestleMania main event. Stephanie gave in to the demands of The Baddest Woman On The Planet who couldn’t control herself thereafter.

Discussions regarding the future of a superstar quickly shifted to Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, which resulted in another reunion of The Shield.

Apart from these two moments, the night was more or less bland and lined with some not so interesting matches.

At the end of the night, we learned 4 things which we will discuss below.

#4 A Royal Rumble win equals nothing

Charlotte's inclusion into the storyline isn't working well

Becky Lynch defied all odds and surprised everyone by entering herself into the Women’s Royal Rumble match. She won the match by eliminating Charlotte Flair to earn the opportunity at a title shot.

A Royal Rumble win equals a title shot at WrestleMania, but WWE is disregarding that by giving Lynch a chance to ‘earn’ her shot at the title by competing against Charlotte at Fastlane.

First of all, there is no reason for Charlotte to be a part of the match as she hasn’t done anything substantial since the beginning of the year.

Secondly, Becky deserves a shot at the title even after all she has done on the two brands since Royal Rumble.

WWE could have done much better to build up the story post-Royal Rumble, rather than inserting Charlotte into the Raw Women’s Championship match against Ronda Rousey.

#3 Raw can go from good to bad in no time

WWE is creating decent angles on the back of bad matches

Last week, Raw delivered one of its most solid episodes in recent times. There were a few good matches, coupled with some great promos, which highlighted what the flagship brand is all about.

However, the creative were unable to ride the momentum and fell flat this week. The night had some average and below average matches, such as Tamina vs Sasha Banks, Heavy Machinery vs. B-Team, Ascension and Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins, and Elias vs Dean Ambrose.

The Revival vs. Aleister Black and Ricochet’s match was again played out this week but was far weaker than what the match was like last week. The two teams are probably the most talented pairings on Raw but failed to deliver, which is a huge worry for the red brand.

#2 Top superstars have no plans for WrestleMania yet

Braun Strowman and Finn Balor don't have a match for Fastlane

WrestleMania 35 is just a month away, and we are awaiting some of the biggest clashes of the year to play out at the event.

SmackDown Live has given some ground to its biggest superstars to lay a platform for the event, with stars such as Kevin Owens, Kofi Kingston, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and others almost certain to receive matches at the event.

On the other hand, the major superstars on Raw, such as Braun Strowman, Dean Ambrose, Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, and Ruby Riott, have no direction for the event yet, and not many episodes remain to make a good buildup.

Raw has largely been focusing on WrestleMania for some time now, and have ignored Fastlane, not laying a platform for their superstars, which is alarming for the brand.

At this point, it seems like even R-Truth has a better storyline than many top Raw superstars.

#1 Things were kept ‘real’

Roman Reigns opened the night once again and called out Seth Rollins to ask him for one thing: a final chance to fight alongside his brothers as the Shield.

The Architect was hard to convince, but he agreed after Reigns talked about how important this was to him before Ambrose leaves.

This was a good way to get in touch with the fact that one of Raw’s superstars will indeed be leaving the company in the coming month. It was unexpected, but a nice touch which will help get the fans involved, even if the entire thing turns out to be a work.

Similarly, later in the night, Triple H came out to address the actions of Batista. HHH spoke about how important it was to him that Flair get his moment. He talked about his history with his mentor.

The Game then turned his attention to The Animal and said he was ready to fight him anywhere and would bring the real man, not the character, to this brawl.

This again made things feel more real than it actually was, and will help play out this entire story extremely well.