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From an interesting return to a Women's Battle Royal that saw a surprising winner, this week's edition of WWE RAW featured many contrasting moments.
RAW was an enjoyable show, thanks to Night Two of this year's WWE Draft. Aside from a few questionable booking decisions, it truly felt like a new season of both RAW and SmackDown has begun from this point onwards.
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 (October 12, 2020).
#5: Elias returned to attack Jeff Hardy on WWE RAW
The last time WWE fans saw Elias was during the Intercontinental Championship Tournament, where he was unable to continue after suffering an injury due to a car accident, in kayfabe. In reality, Elias needed to take time off because of a torn pectoral muscle.
Interestingly, Jeff Hardy was arrested for the aforementioned incident, even though he was framed under the context of his storyline with Sheamus.
So it is only befitting that Elias returned to attack The Charismatic Enigma, thus turning back to a heel through this process.
Elias attacked Hardy with a guitar when the latter was facing AJ Styles and Seth Rollins in a pretty engaging triple threat match. The interference allowed Styles to pick up the victory via pinfall.
This was Seth Rollins' farewell match under The Monday Night Messiah moniker since he was drafted to SmackDown on Night One. Elias was drafted to RAW last night, and The Charismatic Enigma will stay on the Red brand as well.
Next week, Elias has got a special concert planned for Hardy, and don't forget, The Drifter's new music album will release later this month.
#4: The Street Profits and The New Day exchanged their WWE RAW and SmackDown Tag Team Championships, respectively
The Street Profits were drafted to WWE SmackDown during Night Two of the Draft, despite being RAW Tag Team Champions. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods (The New Day) were drafted to RAW despite becoming SmackDown Tag Team Champions last week.
So Adam Pearce came up with a plan, and for the first time in WWE history, the RAW and SmackDown tag team titles were exchanged between the titleholders.
Interestingly, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler had laid their claim as the No. 1 contenders for The Street Profits' RAW Tag Team Championships. Now that those titles were in The New Day's possession, Roode and Ziggler had to face Kingston and Woods instead this week.
What derailed the momentum of this match to some extent was that WWE fans knew Roode and Ziggler weren't winning simply because they were drafted to the Blue brand, earlier in the same episode.
Moreover, given the fact that WWE's tag team divison has been through a rocky couple of months in terms of new contenders, fans would have preferred if The Street Profits and The New Day were on the same brand. That would have given them no choice but to fight each other to determine the undisputed non-brand specific tag team champions.
#3: Ricochet paid tribute to Eddie Guerrero and ended his feud with The Hurt Business on WWE RAW
Ricochet's future on WWE RAW didn't look too promising until last night's episode, where he cut a deal with The Hurt Business, stating that he would face one of them and he would join MVP's faction upon losing. However, The Hurt Business must leave him alone if their representative loses against Ricochet.
Cedric Alexander stepped up to face him, and it's safe to say that Ricochet had no one left by his side since Apollo Crews was drafted to WWE SmackDown on the same night.
However, Ricochet used his intellect to outsmart The Hurt Business at their own game. The referee went down at one point in this match, and MVP slid a chair in for Alexander. Ricochet would grab the chair, only to throw it towards Cedric Alexander and fake a bump when the referee came to his senses.
It was a classic Eddie Guerrero moment which got Ricochet out of an unwinnable situation.
The Hurt Business can fully focus on their feud with RETRIBUTION now, and Ricochet could finally build up his credentials to move up ranks in the singles division of WWE RAW.
#2: Lana became the No. 1 contender for Asuka's RAW Women's title after weeks of being humiliated in WWE
The main event of WWE RAW was a Women's Battle Royal match to determine the No. 1 contender for the RAW Women's Championship.
Out of all contenders, no one expected Lana to win this one, but WWE booked her as the victor to swerve their fanbase.
In the same episode, Natalya and Lana lost to Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke. Natalya broke up her partnership with Lana after it became evident that the latter was the weak link in their equation.
Even during the Battle Royal, Lana was humiliated by Nia Jax after being put through the announcer's table once again. Some may have forgotten that she wasn't technically eliminated here. Lana went ahead and eliminated Nattie to become the No. 1 contender for Asuka's championship gold.
It's nice to know that WWE may have awarded Lana for being a good sport in these past few weeks, even though there is no real chance she could dethrone Asuka as the top female champion on WWE RAW.
Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton's standard opening segment evolved into a full-fledged brawl that went down simultaneously during the main event. Before viewers could fully grasp Lana's surprising victory, Orton and McIntyre closed the episode with their brawl on the road to Hell in a Cell.
#1: Alexa Bliss and The Fiend launched an attack on Zelina Vega and Andrade during WWE RAW
Speaking of the Women's Battle Royal, Alexa Bliss was falsely advertised for the main event on this week's WWE RAW. Thankfully, she was featured in a different capacity on the same episode.
The Fiend was the overall top pick for RAW during Night Two of this year's WWE Draft. Bliss got drafted to the Red brand later in the night.
When Andrade and Angel Garza faced each other, Zelina Vega was on commentary. Speaking about the recent acquisitions made by the Red brand, Zelina called Bliss as "Alexa Quinn" and said that WWE is different from the movies, which seems ironic.
Apparently, this may have been Alexa Bliss and The Fiend's motive to attack Zelina Vega and Andrade after the match.
The Demonic Duo delivered coordinated Sister Abigails on their victims last night, and by doing so, WWE RAW's latest acquisitions ensured they would grab the headlines after the show was over. It seems like their primary motive is to target anyone who threatens or mocks their equation. Owens tried to bring the old Bliss back, while Vega mocked The Goddess' new persona, and both of them faced Alexa Bliss and The Fiend's fury.
Interestingly, Vega was drafted to WWE SmackDown later, so it doesn't seem like she will be Bliss' long-term opponent anymore.
Speaking of long-term feuds, now that Randy Orton was retained by RAW, it is very likely that The Fiend could target The Viper sooner rather than later. The reason behind that is simple: The Fiend never forgets, especially those who have wronged Bray Wyatt in the past.
