5 Things WWE subtly told us on RAW: 3 big mistakes made in the main event, Champions quietly turn heel?
This week's edition of RAW wasn't as strong as the last one, but the build to Money in the Bank continued nonetheless. The women's and men's ladder match is now full on the RAW side.
The Elias-Jaxson Ryker feud seemingly concluded after the latter won their strap match. Ricochet had a non-finish against John Morrison in what was arguably the best match of the night. There was some progress and a few bizarre finishes. Here's what WWE subtly told us on RAW.
#5 The last chance MITB qualifier on RAW and the fallout
The original main event of RAW was supposed to be Randy Orton vs Drew McIntyre vs AJ Styles to secure the last spot in the Men's Money in the Bank match from RAW.
Randy Orton wasn't on the show tonight and a battle royal was booked to replace him. Riddle gave a hand-written note on Randy Orton's "behalf" and chose to represent him on RAW. He won the battle royal by eliminating Damian Priest.
Had Riddle won the main event, Randy Orton would have qualified for the Men's Money in the Bank match. Things turned out to be rather interesting on RAW. It was a solid main event, as one would have expected, with three big names.
In the eyes of many, it should have been either Riddle/Orton or AJ Styles who should have qualified for the Men's Money in the Bank match. Instead, it was Drew McIntyre who walked out victorious in the main event.
But before we jump to the conclusion, let's discuss a few things. Firstly, it seems like WWE is either setting up Drew McIntyre to go on a downward skid and lose his chance at winning the Money in the Bank, or he will win it and challenge for the title as soon as Bobby Lashley gets dethroned.
The latter would be a mistake. But there were three big mistakes made in this match. Firstly, Riddle was taken out with an injury and made a miraculous (but predictable) comeback, only to lose. Why bring Riddle back to the picture to have him lose?
Secondly, why did Omos prevent AJ Styles from getting pinned but stood by and did nothing when Drew McIntyre got the pinfall victory?
Finally, WWE is going to kill Drew McIntyre's momentum on RAW when crowds return. He was the superstar of the year in 2020 and fans are going to be sick of him if he keeps getting inserted in the World title picture in some form or the other.
It will be interesting to see what happens with RK-Bro on RAW next week, but Riddle or AJ Styles should have won the main event.