But a big streak came to an end on RAW, and it could have bigger consequences. Unfortunately, there were some matches with low stakes, such as that where The Street Profits and The Mysterios teamed up to beat Apollo Crews, Commander Azeez, and The Dirty Dogs, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler.

Apart from that, some decent progress was made and WWE put out a pay-per-view level main event. Here is what was subtly told on the latest episode of RAW:

#5. The opening tag team match on RAW and the fallout

The first match this week was a tag team match featuring Women’s Champion Becky Lynch joining forces with Royal Rumble opponent Doudrop to face Liv Morgan and Bianca Belair.

While a heel vs heel feud is unusual, some, including us, assumed that Liv Morgan would insert herself into the title feud with long-term WrestleMania plans in store for Bianca Belair.

Admittedly, we were wrong. The match got some buzz online for all the wrong reasons, as a botch from Doudrop resulted in her not tagging in, and having to forcibly do so.

Becky Lynch was about to secure the pinfall win on Liv Morgan, but Doudrop broke it up and got the cover herself. The move was likely WWE’s subtle way of building Scottish star up as a legitimate competitor, which is why she had to be presented strongly. The botch didn’t help her case.

But the bigger takeaway is that WWE essentially told fans in this match that Liv Morgan’s push is over, for now. While she had two cracks at the Women’s Championship late last year and early this year, the focus will be on Doudrop and what lies ahead for Becky Lynch.

Doudrop is still unlikely to win the title, and nothing about what happened this week indicated that she would be the woman to dethrone Lynch. It’s unfortunate news for Liv Morgan fans, but it looks like we will have to wait a long time to see her get her big moment.

#5. Kevin Owens ends a big streak on RAW

Kevin Owens hosted the KO Show on RAW starring his new best friend Seth Rollins. Owens declared himself as an entrant in the 2022 Men’s Royal Rumble and stated that after Rollins beats Roman Reigns in the Royal Rumble, the Universal title would be featured on the red brand. Owens then declared his intention to challenge Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 38.

Kevin Owens is unlikely to win the Royal Rumble match. However, he faced a champion in a non-title match this week on RAW – Damian Priest. As you know by now, Damian Priest was one of the most pushed and protected stars in WWE last year, not getting pinned in a singles match since his debut in the 2021 Royal Rumble.

That streak came to an end this week. Despite the US Champion threatening to unleash the ‘Damian’, he was fooled by Kevin Owens, who faked an injury and hit the distracted champion with a stunner for the pin.

The Canadian star could be in line to win his fourth United States Championship. There a better candidate to dethrone The Archer Of Infamy, which is why you shouldn’t be surprised if Owens takes the title from Priest soon. It could also be a reward for signing a new contract with WWE late last year.

#4. Did WWE finally realize the one-sidedness of the couple’s feud on RAW?

The Miz vs. Edge started on RAW late last year and led to a match at WWE Day 1 where the Hall of Famer picked up the win thanks to Beth Phoenix’s assistance. A mixed tag team match for the Royal Rumble has been made official.

Maryse looked bad last week when she walked away from The Miz hyping her up. This week, it was justified as Maryse having to take a phone call at the time. However, the 38-year-old called for a face-to-face, one-on-one confrontation with Beth Pheonix this week.

She requested her to cancel the match and seemed to be scared on every level. What was interesting was that Edge came out too, but along with his wife to her theme song and not his. It was a good way to showcase their equal importance in the feud.

It seems like WWE finally realized that the feud was getting too one-sided, and decided that The “It” couple needed to look good and credible in the feud.

#3. Austin Theory’s push resumes on RAW

Austin Theory had yet another meeting with Vince McMahon on RAW, with the chairman of WWE telling him that he would get his match with Finn Balor.

This time around, Theory finally got the win and launched a post-match assault just as McMahon wanted him to. Theory’s push was temporarily halted, but the way he is consistently featured alongside Vince McMahon instantly elevates his status as a star.

The former NXT star’s push has officially resumed, and he will be one of the long-term focuses for WWE.

#2. The Alpha Academy and RK-Bro feud resumes

RK-Bro may have lost the RAW Tag Team Titles, but they are still pursuing it a week later. The Alpha Academy held a graduation ceremony this week, one that perfectly highlighted Gable’s charisma on the mic.

Riddle interfered wearing a graduation dress, and the segment soon devolved into chaos. Randy Orton landed the RKO and the new tag team champions were peddling backwards as Orton and Riddle stood tall in the end. The feud has resumed, but nothing about the way the segment played out indicated that the babyfaces will re-capture the titles anytime soon. If anything, this will be a catalyst for their WrestleMania storyline.

#1. The doomed main event of RAW

The main event of RAW this week was a blockbuster clash between Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley. Atleast the word “Blockbuster” is what it should have been, as it’s a match that could easily be on WrestleMania as well.

However, it was a bout between the Universal title challenger Seth Rollins, and the WWE title challenger Bobby Lashley. WWE played an excellent video package highlighting the careers of Lesnar and Lashley, and The Almighty looked a lot better this week as well.

The main event was always a foregone conclusion in terms of result. It was just a matter of who would get the win “technically”. In this case, The Hurt Business’ former members Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander came out and attacked Bobby Lashley, ruining an otherwise-good main event.

WWE had to protect both the challengers, as they are set to face Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar respectively. There is no way that there was going to be a clean finish to this match. The Usos coming from SmackDown to take out Seth Rollins fueled the interbrand storyline.

Are both challengers doomed to lose at the Royal Rumble? Or will one pull off a big upset to shock the WWE Universe?

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