Best and Worst of RAW before WrestleMania Backlash: Face turn gets delayed, Big mistake made in the main event
It was the go-home episode of RAW to WrestleMania Backlash, and it was by far the best edition of the red brand since WrestleMania 37. There have been a lot of complaints about the build to the PPV on Monday nights, with the booking getting heavily criticized.
Thankfully, that wasn't fully the case this week, although there were ups and downs. Here are the best and worst parts of an eventful episode of RAW.
#3 Best: Randy Orton's character consistency on RAW
Randy Orton's character has been stuck in limbo for the past few months. While he was a clear-cut heel against Drew McIntyre in their WWE Title feud, after that, his character seemed to be in neutral territory.
Feuding against 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss made him a bit of a babyface, but there wasn't much to indicate that he was one, in the months leading up to WrestleMania 37.
Post-WrestleMania, Randy Orton has been aligned with [Matt] Riddle on RAW and they formed a tag team known as R-K-Bro. On this week's show, they went 3-0 after teaming up with The New Day to defeat Jaxson Ryker, Elias, and the Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Omos.
Post-match, Randy Orton hit RKOs on Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston - showing a good bit of character consistency.
Even Randy Orton's promo before the match on RAW was great. While Riddle simply looked at him and smiled at the end, it's an indication that The Viper hasn't fully turned babyface just yet.
It could be similar to the case of Sheamus, where he becomes a babyface while retaining all his heel characteristics. If not, then a proper babyface turn has been slightly delayed and will take place over the course of the next few months.