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From a Sudden Death Triple Threat Match to A Moment of Bliss segment with Randy Orton, this week's edition of WWE RAW featured many contrasting moments.
Watching a three-hour Monday Night RAW, that too with a few questionable booking decisions, makes it a hard show to follow on a weekly basis. Despite that, this week's episode set up a few interesting plot threads that focused on WWE TLC as well as what may happen beyond that event.
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 (November 30, 2020).
#5: Cedric Alexander left Shelton Benjamin and MVP confused in a way that could create some inner-conflict amongst The Hurt Business on WWE RAW
WWE tag teams breaking up in 2020 has been a recurring theme in the pandemic era of wrestling entertainment.
The same theme was applied to factions in a subtle manner during this week's RAW. Firstly, Cedric Alexander defeated RAW tag team champion Xavier Woods in a one-on-one match.
It felt as if Cedric wanted to get ahead of his Hurt Business teammates, which left MVP and Shelton Benjamin confused as to why Cedric wasn't by their side to celebrate his victory after defeating Woods.
Although The Hurt Business has consecutively lost to The New Day recently, Cedric's win over Xavier means that their tag team rivalry isn't over yet.
In the women's tag team division, Lana and Asuka defeated the WWE women's tag team champions, Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. So the tag team feuds on the road to TLC were clearly established on RAW this week.
It's unclear if WWE wants to create some permanent tension between members of The Hurt Business, but it would come across as quite unnecessary if the company went ahead with this creative decision.
The Hurt Business work well together, and there is no reason to create tension between their members at this stage, especially when their act was recently established as a relevant aspect of WWE RAW.
#4: Mustafa Ali yelled at Reckoning to possibly establish another faction-related inner-conflict angle on WWE RAW; Reckoning and Jeff Hardy became a part of two different botch-related incidents
As mentioned in the last slide, WWE booked a subtle moment in their show where it looked like Cedric Alexander wasn't on the same page as his Hurt Business teammates.
As for RETRIBUTION, a similar angle was booked on the same episode in a slightly less subtle manner.
Reckoning had attacked Dana Brooke before WWE Survivor Series, and Brooke made it clear this week that she didn't forget that ambush at all.
As Reckoning and Dana Brooke faced each other in singles action, Reckoning's mask came off right away. Some would classify this as a huge botch, even though any sane-minded adult was aware of the fact that Reckoning was Mia Yim all along.
A bigger and more dangerous botch was Jeff Hardy's Swanton bomb on Elias during their Symphony of Destruction match this week, where The Charismatic Enigma's head hit the steel steps outside the ring.
Although Hardy's penchant for risky stunts remains the same even to this day, incidents like this could lead to long-term consequences for a man of his age.
Coming back to RETRIBUTION, Dana Brooke was able to pick up a victory against Reckoning. This angered Mustafa Ali, who felt that Reckoning failed and embarrassed him.
According to Ali, there is no room for failure in RETRIBUTION, which seems ironic since they have lost quite frequently ever since the anti-WWE faction started wreaking havoc on RAW and SmackDown.
#3: AJ Styles became the number one contender to face WWE Champion Drew McIntyre in a dream match
For those wondering what a Sudden Death Triple Threat Match was supposed to be, it ended up being no different compared to a normal Triple Threat Match in WWE.
While that was a bait-tactic on WWE's part to reel in viewers for Keith Lee, AJ Styles, and Riddle's number one contender's triple threat match, the bout itself was an engaging affair and it was certainly the match of the night.
As all three men gave it their best shot this week, the more experienced veteran - AJ Styles - prevailed as the victor in the end.
It was being rumored that Braun Strowman would somehow end up being the challenger to Drew McIntyre's WWE title. But AJ Styles was the best pick for The Scottish Warrior at this juncture.
A loss wouldn't affect The Phenomenal One's momentum in WWE, while Riddle and Keith Lee could potentially face McIntyre down the road when both of them have gained enough momentum to challenge the WWE Champion.
The good news for Riddle is that he may move on to a feud against Bobby Lashley after The All-Mighty attacked him in a backstage segment this week.
Styles and McIntyre haven't faced each other in a one-on-one match inside WWE's squared circle, so their upcoming clash at TLC is something that most fans are looking forward to at the moment.
#2: AJ Styles gave The Miz an opening to cash-in the MITB contract, as Sheamus and Drew McIntyre's storyline progressed in interesting ways on WWE RAW
There is no denying that the WWE title scene has become quite interesting since Hell in a Cell. Multiple Superstars targeted Randy Orton for the WWE title after that event, and the same target is now on McIntyre's back on RAW.
Sheamus hasn't been at the forefront of WWE for a long time, and The Miz reminded Sheamus of that fact in an excellent promo during Miz TV this week.
Before Sheamus and Drew McIntyre's tag team main event against The Miz and John Morrison could happen, Keith Lee approached The Celtic Warrior by implying that the latter could turn on McIntyre at any given moment.
Meanwhile, AJ Styles sided with The Miz and wanted to help him to cash-in the MITB contract before TLC. This strategy would allow The Phenomenal One to face The Miz at TLC, who is a relatively weaker opponent than The Scottish Warrior.
Towards the end of the main event, Styles interfered to cause a disqualification so that The Miz could cash-in the contract to become the new WWE Champion.
The A-Lister knew that he would be walking into a trap at TLC this way, so he was hesitant at first. This conflict allowed McIntyre to get up in time and gain back control of the situation.
AJ's bodyguard, Omos, will pose a huge threat to McIntyre on the road to TLC. On top of that, WWE fans know that McIntyre's friendship with Sheamus may come to bite back the WWE Champion in the long run.
#1: Randy Orton threatened to take away Alexa Bliss from The Fiend Bray Wyatt during an excellent showcase of psychological storytelling; Who is manipulating whom in this WWE storyline?
Although The Fiend and Randy Orton's feud played out in a short segment on WWE RAW this week, A Moment of Bliss with Alexa Bliss and Randy Orton focused on the rich subtext behind this storyline.
Randy Orton is a master of mind games, and he has exposed Bray Wyatt's weaknesses in the past. From The Viper's perspective, the voices in The Fiend's head stem from Bray Wyatt's mental scars after having been betrayed by Randy Orton.
Although The Fiend doesn't talk at all, WWE fans know that his motive is to torment The Viper after what the latter did to Bray Wyatt. From The Fiend's perspective, he is in control of the Randy Orton feud and Alexa Bliss.
This is where Bliss fits into the picture. "Who is manipulating who?" is what Bliss said to Orton when The Fiend was about to arrive this week.
She was the only WWE character in this segment who came across as least vulnerable, while The Fiend's vulnerabilities became clear as day as he didn't want Orton to hurt Bliss.
Randy Orton's cockiness may make him think that he can manipulate The Fiend just like Bray Wyatt. But Alexa Bliss could secretly be in control of every chess piece in this scenario.
While the aforementioned subtext may have been a bit too complex for an average viewer to grasp at that moment, The Fiend and Randy Orton's storyline is definitely going to include psychological warfare, judging by this week's episode of WWE RAW.
This would be the perfect time to strap in for what may end up being one of the most bizarre storylines on the road to next year's WrestleMania.
