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From the aftermath of the Firefly Inferno match to The Hurt Business maintaining their stance as a dominant faction, this week's edition of WWE RAW featured many contrasting moments.
Around the holiday season in December, WWE episodes tend to feature an approach similar to that of live house shows. The fallout episode of RAW after TLC wasn't the most engaging show as a whole. Despite the fact that WWE RAW ratings hit an all-time low last week, the possibility of real change may only take place next month, in 2021.
From the entire three-hour episode, there were a couple of noteworthy moments, but not as much as one would have hoped to see after the excellent Pay-Per-View that was WWE TLC 2020.
Let us know what you thought about this particular episode in the comments section below.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE RAW (December 21, 2020).
#5: The Hurt Business got photobombed by R-Truth; The Hardy Bros. failed to overcome the threat of MVP and Bobby Lashley on WWE RAW
No, Matt Hardy is still a member of All Elite Wrestling. But Riddle's pitch about him and Jeff Hardy teaming up as The Hardy Bros. seems to have taken flight on WWE RAW.
Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander of The Hurt Business became the new RAW Tag Team Champions at WWE TLC. The MVP wanted his crew to pose for a couple of photographs after their impressive triumph.
The MVP Lounge segment was first interrupted by R-Truth, who photobombed The Hurt Business from behind. A horde of WWE Superstars came out and chased the 24/7 Champion as a result. The second interruption took place thanks to Riddle and Hardy, who then went on to face the secondary tag team unit of The Hurt Business, Bobby Lashley and MVP.
Lashley is clearly on a whole different level as the United States Champion, and he provided most of the muscle for the aforementioned tag team bout. The All-Mighty's Hurt Lock on Hardy guaranteed a victory for The Hurt Business.
Hardy and Riddle work well together as a team, and Riddle's laidback attitude has earned an audience on social media. But The Hardy Bros. probably can't challenge the RAW Tag Team Champions just yet, as they couldn't even defeat the secondary team of The Hurt Business on WWE RAW.
#4: Angel Garza flirted with Sarah Schreiber and returned to WWE RAW
Angel Garza returned to WWE RAW this week. The charismatic WWE Superstar had been a part of Main Event tapings throughout the last few weeks. Last night's episode marked his first wrestling match on the Red brand since October.
It looks like Garza has a thing for backstage correspondents, and Charly Caruso is not the only one with whom Garza has teased a potential romance storyline on WWE RAW. Sarah Schreiber caught Garza's eye in a pre-match backstage interview.
Angel Garza would later face Drew Gulak in the ring. Gulak had to take the loss here to make way for the ladies man of the Red brand.
Now that Garza isn't tied to a tag team with Andrade anymore, WWE can fully focus on developing him as a singles character on RAW. He has the looks, ability, and charisma to become a huge Superstar for the company in the future, and 2021 could be a great year for Angel Garza on the Red brand.
He had been teasing the arrival of a mystery woman before last night's episode, and one has to wonder, who could take up the role of an equally charismatic female counterpart to Angel Garza?
#3: Charlotte Flair returned to WWE RAW after winning the Tag Team Titles with Asuka at TLC; Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax are on a collision course against Asuka and Charlotte Flair, once again
Even though Charlotte Flair and Asuka are currently allies on WWE RAW, both women will probably face each other with the RAW Women's title on the line next year.
The reasoning behind this potential plot development is simple. Asuka hasn't had any high-profile feuds since the Golden Role Models, and Charlotte Flair's character just can't stay out of the top title picture.
As a matter of fact, Flair was about to address the RAW Women's title picture right before Shayna Baszler, and Nia Jax interrupted the duo on WWE RAW.
The former Women's Tag Team Champions were able to defeat Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke. Later in the night, Charlotte and Asuka teamed up against Peyton Royce and Lacey Evans. The current WWE Women's Tag Team Champions picked up the victory.
As per the results, it looks like Jax and Baszler will probably have a rematch against Charlotte and Asuka in the near future.
The Women's Tag Team Division may have received a boost thanks to Charlotte Flair's return, but Charlotte's true intentions with Asuka are probably far too obvious, even at this stage.
#2: The Miz discovered a potential loophole that could make him Mr. MITB once again; Sheamus went against Drew McIntyre's word and attacked Keith Lee to end this episode of WWE RAW
The Miz knew that he made a grave error at WWE TLC by cashing-in the Money in the Bank briefcase. The plan backfired on the A-Lister as well as AJ Styles when Drew McIntyre overcame all odds to retain his WWE Championship.
On this week's WWE RAW, Miz apologized to Styles on Miz TV. The situation for all parties involved - except McIntyre - looked hopeless until Omos brought up that it was John Morrison who cashed-in the MITB contract for The Miz, instead of the rightful owner of the briefcase.
This led to The Miz figuring out the potential ways to get back his contract, and this plot development will play out over the next few episodes.
Miz, Styles, and John Morrison teamed up against McIntyre, Sheamus, and Keith Lee in the main event of this week's WWE RAW.
This was technically a Holiday Street Fight, but it came across as a normal match for the most part. The babyfaces - and Sheamus - were able to pick up the win, and it seemed like Sheamus and Lee had resolved their conflict by emerging as the winners from this main event.
That didn't turn out to be the case eventually, as Sheamus and his heelish tendencies prompted him to Brogue Kick Lee at the end of last night's episode.
Earlier in the night, McIntyre had promised The Limitless One that he would handle Sheamus, but now it looks like Keith Lee and Sheamus may carry out their conflict amongst themselves over the next few episodes.
#1: The Fiend isn't really gone; Alexa Bliss brought her playground to Randy Orton and sent him a warning on WWE RAW
From a production standpoint, the Firefly Inferno match was absolutely excellent at WWE TLC.
Randy Orton has changed after TLC, and his promo made it clear that The Viper took joy in destroying The Fiend at the Pay-Per-View. After he took a sadistic credit for taking out The Fiend, the lights went off in a trademark Fiend-like manner. Alexa Bliss returned to WWE RAW, and she was sitting on a swing set, surrounded by an impromptu playground in the ring.
Apparently, The Fiend was "home" now. The Fiend had symbolically melted deeper into the surface of the earth, in hell. This was an interesting contrast to the Firefly Fun House, which includes a heavenly set and a graphic that features clouds.
Alexa Bliss hoped that The Fiend would visit her playground someday, but she sent a clear message to Randy Orton. If The Fiend does return, he will do so in a manner that Randy Orton has never seen before.
Bliss and Orton's segment was probably the biggest takeaway from an episode that wasn't quite newsworthy, to say the least. It perfectly established that The Fiend's lore is something that has now eclipsed the circle of life, and the segment added more towards the possibility that The Fiend will become stronger when he returns in a slightly repackaged form.
In the video embedded above, do check out former WWE Head Writer Vince Russo's thoughts on all that went down during this week's RAW in the latest edition of Legion of RAW with Dr. Chris Featherstone.
