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This week's episode of RAW is going to be an exciting one. Naturally, it's centered around the WWE Championship match, but a lot more can happen. Last week's RAW post-Elimination Chamber was an interesting episode, immediately starting the build to Fastlane 2021 - the final PPV stop on the Road to WrestleMania.
A title change is certainly predicted for RAW, but it may not be the one that is expected. There are only three episodes of RAW until Fastlane 2021 and five episodes until The Grandest Stage of Them All - WrestleMania 37.
Here are the big surprises that could happen on RAW:
#5. What could stop Bobby Lashley from becoming the WWE Champion on RAW?
The Miz's first WWE Championship defense will happen on RAW, and it promises to be an exciting one. Just eight days after his WWE Championship victory at Elimination Chamber 2021, he will have to defend the title against Bobby Lashley.
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Last week on RAW, MVP and Bobby Lashley put a lot of pressure on The Miz to deliver his promise of a WWE Championship match against Bobby Lashley - which is why the latter helped him cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase against Drew McIntyre to begin with.
The Miz kept stalling, telling MVP and Lashley that he didn't mean he would give an immediate title shot. Bobby Lashley issued an ultimatum to The Miz to make his decision, and it was only through Adam Pearce and Shane McMahon that the decision would eventually be made.
Braun Strowman demanded a title shot, and Shane McMahon told him that if he could defeat Bobby Lashley in the main event of RAW, the following week would feature The Miz defending his WWE title against Lashley and Strowman.
Bobby Lashley defeated Braun Strowman, and it will be a singles bout on RAW. Everybody expects Bobby Lashley to destroy The Miz and become the WWE Champion, but is it as guaranteed as we think?
WWE is certainly doing everything they can to present Bobby Lashley as a monster, and we love it. But we can't forget about the two-time WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, either.
It makes perfect sense that Drew McIntyre would cost Bobby Lashley in his WWE title match. While he wasn't present on RAW last week, he could make his return to prevent the former United States Champion from achieving his World title victory.
#4. The fate of RETRIBUTION on RAW
RETRIBUTION hasn't been a success on RAW, and even though they've had small winning streaks, it feels like most of their television time has been on the losing end.
RETRIBUTION was given a lot of hype and mystery before their reveal on RAW, but things would only go downhill from there. Even though Mustafa Ali turned heel to reveal himself as the faction's leader, they haven't been successful.
After losing to The New Day again on RAW last week, RETRIBUTION leader Mustafa Ali let his unhappiness known, telling his disciples that he was sick of them constantly failing him.
It's been rumored that RETRIBUTION could be split up sooner rather than later. While that wouldn't be a bad call given their current trajectory on RAW, things could change.
What if WWE starts to push RETRIBUTION instead? All it takes is a string of wins to get their momentum back. They haven't been taken seriously because they haven't been treated as such on RAW. But a sudden push in the opposite direction would be a huge surprise on RAW.
#3. Damian Priest and Bad Bunny to see some early cracks in the alliance on RAW?
We'll admit that this is the unlikeliest thing to happen on RAW. Right now, Puerto Rican celebrity singer Bad Bunny is in an alliance with one of the newest additions to the RAW roster - Damian Priest.
Priest even helped Bad Bunny win the WWE 24/7 Championship - something he has taken to Saturday Night Live as well. All indications seem to be that we're going to get a Bad Bunny & Damian Priest vs. The Miz & John Morrison tag team match at WrestleMania.
Dave Meltzer even stated that WWE is planning to protect Damian Priest on RAW until WrestleMania 37 at the very least. While that is a fun direction to go in with Bad Bunny, what if WWE has changed their plan, and we suddenly see early cracks in the alliance between Bad Bunny and Damian Priest on RAW. It could start with a 24/7 Title loss, although this is a surprise that is unlikely to happen, especially given Bad Bunny's celebrity spot on the RAW roster.
#2. Randy Orton does something to combat Alexa Bliss' constant torture on RAW
Randy Orton cut a good promo on RAW last week, stating that failure isn't a word he accepts or is too familiar with. But lately, he has been finding himself failing in a lot of situations, giving a recent example - where he was the first Superstar eliminated from the RAW Elimination Chamber match.
Randy Orton insisted that no matter how much Alexa Bliss wants him and everyone to believe that The Fiend will return to RAW - he won't. Orton did, however, blame Alexa Bliss for his recent failures on RAW, and the promo ended in the weirdest way possible - with black liquid spurting out of his mouth.
We've seen that black liquid with Alexa Bliss as well, and the indication is that she is behind it. It's possible that this week on RAW, Randy Orton finds Alexa Bliss and assaults her. While males attacking female stars isn't something we see in WWE these days, it would make perfect sense in this storyline.
It would also add a lot of heat to the story on RAW as well, which has slowed down slightly in the last month.
#1. What will happen between Asuka and Charlotte Flair on RAW?
Charlotte Flair had one of the most interesting roles on RAW last week. She teamed up with her partner Asuka to challenge Women's Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax.
A miscue saw her big boot RAW Women's Champion Asuka instead of Shayna Baszler. The seed seemed to have been planted for a feud against Asuka at WrestleMania, which is what Cageside Seats reported as well.
While Randy Orton blamed his failures on Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair did so to her father, Ric Flair. She called out her father for "pretending" like Lacey Evans' child is his, and he justified his actions by saying that he saw something in the latter and wanted to help her in her career.
It was a tense segment, and it may have been the end of another Ric Flair run on RAW. But let's not forget Asuka and what happened. Given Charlotte Flair seems to have had many heel and face turns, could WWE go with RAW Women's Champion Asuka as the heel instead? We could see a big betrayal tonight.
