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From Triple H's return to Sheamus and Keith Lee's interesting storyline, this week's edition of WWE RAW featured many contrasting moments.
Drew McIntyre was set to be a major part of this episode until the news of his COVID-19 diagnosis forced WWE to change plans at the last minute. As a result, this week's episode from the Red brand can't be fairly judged as compared to the usual affair that the fans are accustomed to on Monday nights.
It was a decent show in parts, given the fact it wasn't quite perfect under the aforementioned circumstances. 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 (January 11, 2021).
#5: Drew McIntyre addressed Goldberg's Royal Rumble challenge on WWE RAW
Drew McIntyre wasn't physically present inside the ThunderDome this week, but the WWE Champion still managed to address viewers and fans through a video.
Before talking about Goldberg, McIntyre urged everyone to take appropriate safety measures against coronavirus. When it came to the WCW legend, Drew McIntyre admitted that Goldberg was one of his heroes back in the day. McIntyre was a bit starstruck when Goldberg came down the ramp to address him on WWE RAW Legends Night.
McIntyre was unsure about the WWE Hall of Famer's Royal Rumble challenge at first, as The Scottish Warrior compared the situation to Goldberg stepping up against a prime version of himself.
However, McIntyre eventually accepted the challenge when Goldberg physically provoked him on RAW Legends Night.
It was nice to see that McIntyre was allowed to address his COVID-19 situation. The Goldberg angle took a backseat this week for obvious reasons, but other aspects of the show related to McIntyre were addressed in interesting ways, which shall be covered in the next few slides.
#4: Keith Lee and Sheamus resolved their conflict in the absence of Drew McIntyre on WWE RAW
Keith Lee and Sheamus have been fighting amongst each other for weeks on WWE RAW. Drew McIntyre wanted both WWE Superstars to resolve their conflict against each other a while ago. Still, McIntyre's efforts did not result in any kind of harmony between Lee and Sheamus.
This week, Sheamus wanted to convey that Lee had earned his respect after the latter star earned McIntyre's respect on WWE RAW Legends Night.
The Miz and John Morrison arrived to gloat during a backstage segment between Lee and Sheamus, which led to a tag team match on WWE RAW.
The Limitless One broke a turnbuckle at one point during the match, and the duo of Sheamus and Keith Lee was eventually able to defeat Miz and Morrison. Just when things were good between Lee and Sheamus, both stars got involved in a singles competition against each other after the commercial break.
This time around, Lee scored a victory against his frenemy after a hard-hitting contest. The Limitless One offered a fist bump to Sheamus, but the two exchanged a hug instead to call it a day.
It was a good recurring arc for Sheamus to resolve his conflict through action, once again. Sheamus and Keith Lee's subplot was allowed to shine in Drew McIntyre's absence on this week's WWE RAW.
#3: Bobby Lashley dominated Riddle in a WWE United States Championship match
Riddle stepped into the ring against Bobby Lashley for a WWE United States Title shot on this week's RAW. The match came about after Riddle scored a controversial victory over Bobby Lashley from the previous episode.
In recent memory, Riddle had gained a lot of steam thanks to his gimmick as everyone's favorite "BRO". However, WWE has fully committed to building up Lashley as an absolute force. This is why The All-Mighty scored a fairly easy victory over Riddle on Monday Night RAW.
Riddle did get in a certain amount of offense, but he was unable to escape The Hurt Lock towards the end of the aforementioned bout.
After Lashley retained his United States Title, Riddle took to the microphone to challenge MVP immediately.
This part of Riddle's arc against The Hurt Business seemed a bit unnecessary. MVP vs. Riddle ended in a disqualification. Lashley interfered just when the tides had shifted in Riddle's favor.
MVP and Riddle's bout didn't establish anything new, so it came across as a filler match in a night where plans were considerably altered at the last minute.
#2: Ric Flair officially aligned with Lacey Evans to betray Charlotte Flair on WWE RAW
Some WWE Superstars just can't let go of their old ways, and Ric Flair's character is a perfect example of the same.
In what seemed like an odd segment last week, Ric Flair had tripped his daughter - Charlotte Flair - during a tag team match where Charlotte and Asuka teamed up against Lacey Evans and Peyton Royce.
Evans had charmed The Nature Boy into tripping his own daughter last week, but Ric Flair's allegiances still remained somewhat of a mystery.
On the latest edition of WWE RAW, Ric Flair blatantly assisted Lacey Evans so that The Sassy Southern Belle could score a singles victory against Charlotte. Ric and Lacey even hugged and left together after the match was over.
The Dirtiest Player in the Game truly lived up to his moniker by officially betraying his daughter this week, and it will be interesting to see how Ric Flair's equation with Lacey Evans will proceed over the next few weeks.
The father-daughter conflict between Ric and Charlotte isn't anything new, but it still serves as an entertaining detour from Charlotte and Asuka's relatively predictable storyline on WWE RAW.
#1: Triple H's in-ring return match against Randy Orton on WWE RAW was interrupted by Alexa Bliss in a surreal manner
In the light of the fact that Drew McIntyre would be unable to face Randy Orton in a non-title match on WWE RAW, Triple H returned to the Red brand to kick-off this week's episode.
Randy Orton confronted The Game immediately, and the history between both men was neatly tied to Randy Orton's actions against The Fiend.
The Cerebral Assassin took offense to The Viper's unprovoked warfare against WWE legends, which doesn't really earn him any accomplishments within the promotion.
The seeds were carefully planted for Triple H and Randy Orton's Street Fight main event on this week's WWE RAW. This would mark Triple H's first match since 2019.
When Triple H vs. Randy Orton began pretty late in the three-hour timeslot, anyone who has been watching RAW for a long time knew that their match would probably end in shenanigans.
That is exactly what happened when Triple H's sledgehammer caught fire, seemingly out of nowhere. The lights went out, and The Cerebral Assassin disappeared when the lights came back on.
Alexa Bliss stood behind Orton as a distorted version of the Firefly Funhouse music played on WWE RAW. The segment paid-off in a surreal manner when Bliss shot a "fireball" straight towards Orton's face.
This week's episode ended with The Viper writhing in pain inside the ring. It is understandable why some WWE fans were disappointed that the impressive buildup to Triple H's return match resulted in shenanigans.
At least WWE came up with a formidable last-minute plan for RAW this week. The little bits and pieces of Randy Orton's interactions with Alexa Bliss only add more steam behind Bray Wyatt's eventual return.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if Triple H's in-ring comeback results in a storyline for The Game on the Road to WWE WrestleMania 37.
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.
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