5 Biggest questions from this week’s WWE RAW, NXT, and SmackDown
WWE announced early on Monday that Drew McIntyre had been affected by the COVID-19 virus just before his big non-title match against Randy Orton. After WWE pulled the Champion out of RAW, the creative team had to book some last-minute matches.
Triple H took McIntyre’s place in the main event, while a few Superstars competed in multiple matches during the night. However, WWE left out a few top Superstars from RAW and missed a couple of opportunities.
The Dusty Rhodes Classic kicked off on WWE NXT where a number of major teams were booked to go head-to-head. While some of the more established teams are taking part in the tournament, NXT has forged some questionable alliances to increase the number of participants.
However, the most interesting part of NXT was the alliance teased between The Undisputed ERA and NXT Champion Finn Balor.
WWE SmackDown once again knocked it out of the park with some good matches and great segments. A divide was teased between Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, while Kevin Owens returned to take his place in his rivalry against Roman Reigns.
Will an upcoming Superstar help Big E get a much-deserved push on the Blue brand? Let's take a look at some of the biggest questions from this week's WWE RAW, NXT, and SmackDown.
#5 What is the deal with the WWE RAW Women’s Championship?
Remember the last time Asuka defended her WWE RAW Women’s Championship? In case you forgot, Asuka last defended the title on the November 23, 2020, episode of RAW against Lana. The match was short-lived as Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax caused a disqualification.
Before that, Asuka had a full title match against Zelina Vega on the September 28th episode of RAW. While Asuka is now also the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion, it seems like RAW is more focused on her partner, Charlotte Flair.
This leads to the question of what is the deal with Asuka and her RAW Women’s Championship? She hasn’t had a proper challenger since Sasha Banks and Bayley fell out of the RAW Women's title picture, and WWE has failed to develop any new challengers for her in months.
In fact, having Asuka in the Women’s Tag Team Championship scenario once again has also not helped The Empress of Tomorrow. This is because the story has been all about a returning Charlotte Flair and her rivalry against Lacey Evans and Ric Flair.
WWE needs to address Asuka’s situation sooner than later and build a challenger for her title. With the Royal Rumble fast approaching, it’s rather surprising that the top woman of RAW has no challengers for her title. Instead, she is holding the Women’s Tag Team title as well, which could have helped some other female Superstars to get over with the fanbase.
Perhaps this question will be answered during Alexa Bliss and Asuka's upcoming non-title bout on the next edition of RAW.