By Ryan Satin
Randy Orton learned on Raw that he’s got some serious competition in the weeks ahead, including an unstoppable Survivor Series opponent and an evil clown out for revenge.
Before we expand on that, here are the quick results for the October 26, 2020 edition of Raw:
- AJ Styles defeated Jeff Hardy to earn a spot on Team Raw at Survivor Series
- Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik defeated Drew Gulak and Akira Tozawa
- Keith Lee defeated Elias to earn a spot on Team Raw at Survivor Series
- The Hurt Business defeated RETRIBUTION in an eight-man tag team elimination match
- Drew McIntyre defeated The Miz via pinfall
- Lana defeated Lacey Evans, Peyton Royce and Nikki Cross to earn a spot on the Raw Women’s team at Survivor Series
- Sheamus pinned Matt Riddle after hitting a Brogue Kick to earn a spot on Team Raw at Survivor Series
The show as a whole was not very well-received by fans, but there were still a few things that happened worth discussing.
Here are my takeaways from this week’s edition of Raw.
Burning Down the House
"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton finally crossing paths was long overdue.
We all know Orton burning down the Wyatt family compound in 2017 may have caused The Fiend to manifest. A drawing of this moment hangs in the Firefly Fun House to remind us of that each week.
That drawing was focused on Monday during a Mad Hatter’s tea party edition of the Firefly Fun House.
The compound being burned down was also referenced by Alexa during "A Moment of Bliss" segment at the end of the show with Randy Orton himself.
Wyatt and Orton haven’t always had the best matches in previous encounters, but the history involved in this story is too easy to pass up. Because of that, I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.
The time was right to pull the trigger on their feud now that Orton is champion again and Wyatt is positioned as a face.
The Fiend can keep Randy occupied for the next few months. Then, when Edge is ready to return, Orton will have a new challenger waiting in the wings.
The wildcard is Drew McIntyre.
McIntyre made it clear this week that he’s still on the hunt to regain his title. Will he have to face The Fiend first in order to get that?
Certainly seems possible since Orton is now officially taking on Roman Reigns at Survivor Series, making Wyatt and McIntyre in need of something to keep them busy.
Alexa Bliss also deserves a ton of credit this week.
She was easily the MVP of the show.
Survivor Series Build Begins
Positive: 5-on-5 Survivor Series team building
WWE did a great job making the 5-on-5 Survivor Series match feel important on Monday night.
The first three qualifying matches for Team Raw featured top level talent in competitive, longer matches that made you believe Superstars would want a spot on the team.
One of those matches even main evented the show.
Seeing as how most die-hard fans aren’t usually as invested in the brand vs. brand concept, especially right after a draft, putting actual effort into making the qualifiers special could change that.
Matt Riddle and Sheamus, specifically, deserve praise for their hard-hitting match on Monday. Riddle can have a good match with anyone and it shows. He belongs at the top of the card.
Negative: NXT No Longer Part of Survivor Series
The addition of NXT to last year’s Survivor Series event made the show.
Whether it was out of necessity because most WWE employees were stuck in Saudi Arabia and couldn’t make it to SmackDown that night, or done in an effort to raise the awareness of NXT, the brand being included last year made the event feel special.
The gold and black brand being left out this year was a real disappointment, even if it was likely due to the COVID pandemic.
NXT films at the Capitol Wrestling Center, not the Amway Center like Raw and SmackDown, therefore including that roster would’ve meant mixing the different talent pools.
Still, the show now feels a bit lesser than without any of the NXT talent involved.
Asuka vs. Sasha Banks will be a fantastic match, but adding Io Shirai would’ve made it even better.
New Day vs. Street Profits is a match wrestling fans certainly want to see, but the addition of newly turned heels Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch (with Pat McAfee ringside) would’ve spiced things up.
Same goes for adding Damian Priest to the match involving Bobby Lashley and Sami Zayn. Priest really could’ve helped their encounter feel like more than a rehash of the ill-fated feud between Lashley and Sami Zayn in 2018.
RETRIBUTION Can't Win
WWE is making it really hard for anyone to care about RETRIBUTION.
After a rocky start due to the strange masks being worn by the group’s core members, as well as their bad names, Mustafa Ali revealing himself as the leader seemed to be their saving grace.
Ali saying he was the SmackDown hacker also explained how RETRIBUTION messed with the lights/graphics every week, and attached the group to an angle that fans were already interested in.
This gave the group real momentum for once.
Unfortunately, it all seems to be gone already.
First they lost at the pay-per-view on Sunday when Slapjack was defeated by Bobby Lashley, then again last night on Raw when the group as a whole were defeated by The Hurt Business.
This makes no sense from a fan's standpoint.
Months of TV have been put into building the team only for each one to fail when they step in the ring.
Having the group cut a promo after their third straight loss saying wins don’t matter to them also lowers their value in the eye of fans. If they don’t care about their matches, why should we?
And, worst of all, this group has potential.
Ali is vastly underutilized, T-Bar (aka Dominik Dijakovic) is an incredibly gifted performer, MACE has shown real potential, Reckoning (aka Mia Yim) is a force and Slapjack (aka Shane Thorne) always delivers.
Either give them a chance to rack up some wins or move on.
