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The recently concluded Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2019 (TLC 2019) PPV had all three major titles from RAW missing (although Becky Lynch did compete for the Women's tag titles).
The RAW Tag Team Championships were the sole Red brand titles on the line at the event, as The Viking Raiders' open challenge was answered by The O.C. Even though The O.C. couldn’t win the titles, they returned this week to teach Erick & Ivar a lesson.
This week's episode also saw Asuka dispatch a new competitor easily, staking her claim for Lynch's title.
However, most of the drama circled the United States Champion Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins and the Authors of Pain.
In this article, we will look at the five things that the company got right on the night after TLC 2019.
#5 Seth Rollins’ opening promo
Seth Rollins set the ball rolling (pun intended) last week after he paired up with Akam and Rezar to take down Kevin Owens backstage.
This week, the company did the right thing by allowing The Architect and the Authors of Pain to open the show. Rollins is always good on the mic when he’s playing a heel character, and coming out early on helps any Superstar build up momentum in the show.
The Beast Slayer in his opening speech said that K.O. paid for his resistance last week and called himself a visionary, promising to drag the fans into 2020 along with the A.O.P.
This cemented him as the self-proclaimed leader of RAW, someone who everyone will come to hate sooner than later and help him become a bigger heel. It was evident that he was masking his insecurities with his words, and this could work extremely well in the long term, especially against an outspoken opponent like Owens.
Rollins' speech, wherein he also claimed he had some unfinished business which he’ll tend to later on in the show, really helped set the mood for the rest of the night.
#4 The O.C.’s victory
The O.C. answered The Viking Raiders' open challenge at TLC 2019 and just 24 hours later, the two teams engaged in a non-title rematch on RAW.
Both the teams delivered a good performance and were able to work with each other’s strengths. The booking of the match allowed them to come out looking strong, and at the end of it all, Gallows and Anderson delivered the Magic Killer for the victory.
The action was solid, but the non-title stipulation of the match gave away its outcome earlier on.
This was a good match to get The O.C. over at a time when they’ve had a few bad bookings and their leader has lost his United States Championship.
The bad part, however, was to have them compete in a non-title match just 24 hours after a Championship match and allowing a 50-50 booking. Instead, the company should have allowed The O.C. to pick up the titles once again, rather than forcing the Viking Raiders to have a long run with a loss in between.
It’ll be interesting to see how the brand takes this story from here, and whether Gallows and Anderson will get a title match next week or not.
#3 The Gauntlet match
The company has started using Gauntlet matches generously since the past year or so, as they give the fans something to talk about and make the way for a new star to rise to the top.
In this week's episode, RAW hosted another such match to determine the No.1 contender to Rey Mysterio’s United States Championship.
The six-man match started off with R-Truth and Akira Towaza. The former Cruiserweight Champion was able to eliminate the 24/7 Champion early on, leading to Ricochet’s arrival.
Ricochet battled Towaza perfectly, and the two had a great battle before the former eliminated the latter to bring in Matt Hardy. Hardy tried to delete Ricochet from the competition, but The One and Only put up a great offense and countered the Twist of Fate into a pinfall to take him out of the competition.
Humberto Carrillo then took to the ring and battled the high-flyer. The young Superstar was able to eliminate Ricochet, bringing Andrade to the ring, who, with an attack from behind, took the fight to the floor, leading to a no-contest. Andrade left Carrillo unconscious after a beatdown which brought out Mysterio to make the save.
The match itself was fantastic and allowed R-Truth to take to the ring, along with Hardy, to have a good fight. Ricochet and Carrillo came out looking strong after the battle, while Towaza also managed to get a boost.
Overall, the match was perfect, but the lack of a definitive finish was not what it deserved.
#2 Mysterio’s challenger
As Rey Mysterio was watching Humberto Carrillo get stretchered out of the area, Seth Rollins and the A.O.P. arrived to make a statement.
Rollins brought along with himself the steel pipe which Mysterio had given to Kevin Owens last week. He taunted current United States Champion and handed him the pipe before Akam and Rezar unloaded on the masked Superstar.
The Master of the 619 was left helpless as Carrillo was already out and Ricochet was down after a fight, while Owens was not even in the building itself.
Rollins decided to leave him lying in the middle of the ring, before stopping to deliver one final stomp to the current United States Champion. He then issued a formal challenge to Mysterio for a match next week.
Building Rollins as Mysterio’s challenger is the right thing to do as it will help The Beast Slayer get more heat and get the crowd against him while providing Mysterio with a looming threat.
K.O. will probably return next week to help Mysterio take down The Architect and the A.O.P. but until then, we know that Rollins will not stop until he manhandles Mysterio and takes his title away from him.
#1 Orton’s revival
Randy Orton got a big match on this week's episode of RAW against none other than the former United States Champion, AJ Styles. Styles targeted The Viper’s knee early on and kept going at it to gain an advantage throughout the match.
Orton soon recovered and delivered a snap powerslam to gather some momentum and the two delivered a great main event for the Red brand.
In the final moments of the match, Styles went for the Phenomenal Forearm but Orton caught him mid-air with an RKO, pinning him to pick up the victory.
Right after the match, the remaining two members of The O.C. -- Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson -- hit the ring to beat down Orton.
The Viking Raiders came in to make a timely save but were overpowered by the heels in the process. The O.C. stood tall at the end of the night to give RAW something to look forward to next week.
The entire match was well done, and a big victory for Orton on RAW was necessary to take the story forward. A save by the Viking Raiders could mean that the three men may work together in the future, similar to what Orton did with The Revival.
The O.C. standing tall to close out the show helps the heel faction gain some momentum at a time when neither of the three men is holding a Championship.
