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With WWE Backlash just a few weeks away, WWE RAW worked on certain aspects of the rivalries that are already building well and giving fans what they’ve been looking for some time.
This week’s show had some NXT Superstars and Performance Center recruits in the audience to cheer for the men and women competing in the ring. This worked in WWE’s favor as things started to look a bit more entertaining automatically with some noise from the crowd.
RAW built up the next challenger for the RAW Women’s Championship after a good match between Charlotte Flair, Natalya, and Nia Jax. The WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions also seem to be under threat after what happened to them last week followed by this week.
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WWE Champion Drew McIntyre seems to have met his match in 'The All-Mighty' Bobby Lashley as we got a preview of what to expect when these two men lock horns in the ring.
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Last, but not least, Apollo Crews picked up the biggest victory of his career and won his first title in WWE with an impressive performance.
In this article, we will look at the 5 things WWE RAW got right on this week’s episode.
#5 The build to a big WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match
It’s no secret that The IIconics are back on RAW and they want their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships back, but it seems like personal issues are getting in their way to the top.
This week on RAW, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay came out to the ring to apologize to each other publicly after what happened after their match last week. They spoke about how far they’d come together and how they deserve to be the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.
This brought out the actual Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross who did not hold back on the microphone. Bliss called out Kay and Royce for thinking that she hadn’t made enough sacrifices to be in the business before things got physical.
The heels managed to lay out the Champions to gain the upper hand and possibly book themselves a match for Backlash for the titles. This was a good way to make The IIconics prominent again and build towards an interesting rivalry for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Has RAW become the only home for the Women's Tag Team Titles?
At times it feels like the creatives forget that those titles exist too and don’t seem to take much interest in building rivalries for the belts. However, this feels like a much better rivalry than several we’ve seen earlier.
The segment also allowed Cross, Kay, and Royce to shine out more than the former RAW Women’s Champion which worked well in the creative’s favor.
#4 Angel Garza’s biggest victory on RAW
Former WWE Champion Kevin Owens was set to take on the newest heartthrob Angel Garza on RAW this week after Owens and Apollo Crews defeated Andrade and Garza last week in a tag team match.
Garza attacked KO during his entrance and took out his knee to gain an advantage over the bigger WWE Superstar. He continued to work on Owens' leg as Zelina Vega continued to cheer for her client from ringside.
While Owens made several comebacks in the match and even tried to hit a cannonball, Garza was too fast and smart for him. Garza ended the match by hitting The Wingclipper to pick up his biggest victory on RAW to date.
Is Angel Garza going to be the breakout star of this faction?
This was a good match that did everything possible to make Garza look like the next big star. His alliance with Vega has surely paid off, but it seems like the two may drift apart in the coming weeks on RAW. Vega has already lost Austin Theory, and losing another client could make things interesting.
KO has never been shy of giving newcomers a push, and he did exactly that with his excellent babyface performance in this match. This is a match no one saw coming but everyone enjoyed to the max.
#3 The #1 contender to the RAW Women’s Championship
We saw a brawl between Asuka, Charlotte Flair, Natalya, and Nia Jax at the beginning of the night to close out the Kevin Owens show. Later on, Flair, Natalya, and Jax were set to compete in a Triple Threat Match to determine who would be the first challenger to Asuka’s RAW Women’s Championship at WWE Backlash.
Asuka joined the commentary team as Jax began the match by showing her power. She slammed The Queen of Harts onto The Queen of WWE and looked to dominate her way through the match.
However, Natalya and Flair worked together on several occasions to neutralize Jax and then went on to compete against each other to make the match more entertaining. Jax tried to get back in the match, but they powerbombed her through the announce table.
While the action was limited to Natalya and Flair, the RAW Women’s Champion decided to help Jax get back into the match and hit Nattie with a Samoan Drop to pick up the victory.
Is Nia Jax the right woman to take on the RAW Women's Champion?
This was a good match that crowned the right number one contender. Flair has already had several Championship matches this year and needs to concentrate more on the NXT Women’s Championship right now more than anything else.
Natalya has already had a series of losses in WWE lately, and her recent losses against Shayna Baszler weren’t even mentioned when she got her spot in the match.
Jax already has some history with The Kabuki Warriors, and that could be the reason Asuka helped her win so she could teach RAW’s Irresistible Force a lesson in the ring.
#2 Bobby Lashley finally finds his footing on RAW
Earlier on RAW, MVP had taken a Claymore Kick from Drew McIntyre during his VIP Lounge segment. Bobby Lashley was not too happy with the proceedings of the show either, and a backstage encounter led the two heels to take on the RAW Tag Team Champions in the main event.
Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford tried to put Lashley down, but his size and strength were too much for them. After Dawkins got control of the match by taking down MVP, Ford managed to drive Lashley into the barricade to gain some advantage.
However, things did not end up too well for Ford as The All-Mighty put him in a Full Nelson later to get the win and knock him out cold. McIntyre’s music hit and the WWE Champion ran to the ring to beat Lashley down.
The two men brawled and several WWE Superstars tried to separate the two men. They were forced to opposite corners as the show came to an end.
Is this the big WWE Championship clash that will light up Backlash?
This was a good match that showed that MVP and Lashley could have been a good tag team had Lashley not entered the WWE Championship picture. Lashley’s dominance over his opponents and victory last night perfectly sets him up for the big match and gives him enough steam to come across as a real threat to the WWE Champion.
The Street Profits’ loss did not really work well here as they are already in a rivalry with The Viking Raiders, and a loss dents their overall image during the feud as the reigning RAW Tag Team Champions.
#1 Apollo Crews’ impressive victory on RAW for his first Championship in WWE
WWE loves building towards underdog victories that have the ‘feel-good’ factor for the fans, and that is exactly what they did this week as Apollo Crews got another shot at the United States Championship held by Andrade on RAW.
Crews had competed for the title on RAW before Money in the Bank but an injury sustained mid-match halted his progress and took him out of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match too.
However, he was much fitter and more focused this week as he took on Andrade with Zelina Vega at ringside.
The two men had a great match where they both got their spots to shine and did not slow down the action at any point. Apollo got to show his power to the entire RAW locker room once again as he pulled off impressive power moves to keep El Idolo on the ropes.
A kick from Crews sent Andrade into Vega who went crashing to the floor from the apron, giving rise to more tensions between Vega’s heel faction.
Crews ended the match with a series of moves as he took down Andrade with a press slam, a standing moonsault, and a shooting star press to pick up the victory and become RAW’s new United States Champion.
Is Crews on his way to a long Championship reign on RAW?
This is Crews’ first Championship victory in WWE, and fans know exactly how hard he has worked for it. The backing from the audience worked well in his favor as he got to enjoy the moment a bit more.
We hope that the new babyface Champion gets to keep the title for some months before he loses it to someone like Angel Garza or Austin Theory after a good rivalry.
