I rarely watch RAW myself these days anymore, with the show being three hours it’s just too long. Lately, booking on RAW has been stale and only certain segments (Drew McIntyre’s latest feud or Randy Orton’s program with Alexa Bliss / The Fiend) catch my attention. I’m not ashamed to say I just go on the WWE YouTube channel to review RAW later on.
But I tuned in this week’s RAW because it was the one after the Royal Rumble, and I have to say the show was solidly booked and provided a good three hours this past Monday night…although not every segment or storyline was great.
Here are my thoughts on how RAW after the 2021 Royal Rumble went.
Edge is back in the title picture, and that is freakin’ awesome
Edge being in Wrestlemania going after a world title was not something I thought we would be talking about. His shocking 2020 return at last year’s Royal Rumble was amazing enough, but him winning the whole thing at the Number 1 spot this year was even more amazing.
Last night’s “final” confrontation with Randy Orton was a good way to book Edge going forward in terms of deciding where he will end up at Mania. Although we had Alexa Bliss providing that very strange distraction, which led to Edge pinning Orton after a spear, the match’s conclusion was definitive and Orton can now go handle matters with the Fiend while Edge goes into the title picture.
I highly doubt Drew McIntyre will be Edge’s target; it’s more likely that Roman Reigns and the Universal Title is what the “Rated R Superstar” will be targeting on Smackdown, where Edge really established his career. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is Edge saying he’s going after “the title which he never lost,” which was the Big Gold Belt (aka the World Heavyweight Championship), a title no longer in circulation.
The only purely gold belt is the NXT Championship….and Edge is heading over to NXT this week. While it’s highly unlikely that Edge would challenge Finn Balor at Wrestlemania, because I think WWE would want to avoid a parallel situation like last year when putting the NXT championship on a main roster wrestler did nothing to the brand or viewership, it’s still a good way to get Edge back into the main storylines by having him appear on all three shows this week.
Old school promos still kicking @#S
Speaking of Edge and Randy Orton, it seems the magic formula in WWE for great promos is to bring back veterans or keep putting the veterans on every week, judging by Orton and Edge’s promos hyping up for their main event match on RAW.
Does this mean that guys like Edge and Orton have a bit of creative freedom when it comes to their character development, yet they are more at home operating in WWE’s confined system? Or maybe that they’ve had enough tenure in the company that McMahon gives them more leeway instead of getting them to follow a script. It sounds like I’m stating the obvious.
The pros and cons of Damien Priest on the main roster
So yet another male NXT superstar has made his debut on the main roster, as Damien Priest (after appearing on the Royal Rumble) showed up on RAW to help out Latin artist Bad Bunny and beating the Miz in his first main roster match.
On the one hand, there wasn’t much left for the Archer of Infamy to do on the black and gold brand, having lost to Karrion Kross in a grudge match before departing. It’s obvious that NXT is slowly moving Kross back into the NXT title picture, and having Priest there only hinders that. On the other hand, we’ve seen what happened to Keith Lee, who went from being an NXT double champion to being sent back to the Performance Centre for more training, thus taking him off weekly television.
Now it looks like the move is to have Priest team with Bad Bunny in a match with Miz and Morrison, which is a bit of a far cry from the way he was booked on NXT. Although being in a program with a celebrated musician in one of those crossover bookings isn’t a bad way to start your main roster tenure.
Carlito and Christian returning to WWE
Edge isn’t the only past competitor returning, although he was expected. Carlito returned at the Rumble, as did the former Intercontinental and World Champion, Christian. The man formerly known for spitting an apple in people’s faces (who cannot do that anymore in the more health conscious Covid era), teamed with Jeff Hardy in a win against Elias and Jaxson Ryker.
At 240 pounds, Carlito was in tremendous shape for a man of his 41 years, and looked even better than during his last WWE run some 10 years ago. Over on Smackdown, it’s more likely Christian will go to the blue brand and perhaps have “one more match” for the IC title against Big E.
Unlike strutting around Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan, bringing back beloved veterans who can work a match is a much better option in an attempt for WWE to rejuvenate interest in their programming for fans who might be interested in some nostalgia.
Speaking of the Nature Boy…
What is going on in the RAW Women’s division?
I can deal with Edge, Christian, Carlito and even MVP coming back, but not Ric Flair. It’s 2021 and I do not need to see Ric Flair on a weekly basis, with all due respect. Especially in a storyline that emphasizes more old man creepiness rather than the Flair of old. Having another ‘creepy old dude’ like Jerry Lawler ‘defending’ Flair’s behaviour on commentary does not help matters.
I don’t understand how Charlotte Flair can go from finishing a match despite her father and his ‘new beau’ Lacey Evans running in one night and then getting ‘so traumatized’ by the duo doing it again that she just tags herself literally out of a match.
Not sure if this is building towards a return by Charlotte’s actual fiance Andrade, but even then it’s not like Andrade will be doing a program against the 71 year old Ric Flair…unless you bring in Angel Garza or someone else, but Andrade vs Garza has been done. As for Evans, she has two character portrayals she should always be doing: Sassy Southern Belle (heel) or Military Mum/Momma Bear (face)…not whatever this is.
Oh, by the way, yes there is a RAW Women’s Champion mixed in all of this, Asuka. But the way that triple threat match ended, it’s almost like the Empress, who has been champ since August 2020, is an afterthought. I don’t see who is challenging Asuka on the horizon, since it’s not Charlotte as she’s wrapped up in this feud with her father and Evans. Unless you’re talking about Rhea Ripley…but where and what is the build to that feud?
I would not blame Bianca Belair on taking a pass on RAW and going after Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s title at Wrestlemania.
An average professional doing the 9-5 grind who really loves wrestling across all platforms. Here's hoping wrestlers finally get some basic workers rights in 2021.
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