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Welcome to another edition of the top RAW rumors that could impact the red brand. This week on RAW, WWE gave the fans a stellar go-home episode of Monday Night RAW.
Bobby Lashley established his dominance against his former stablemates Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander, proving that Drew McIntyre has a tough task ahead of him at WrestleMania.
In today's edition, we will discuss the possibility of a major surprise return by former RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch. Apart from that, this article will take an in-depth look at the reason for The Hurt Business being abruptly broken up.
So without further ado, let's dive in and take a look at some of the major stories involving RAW Superstars:
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#5 Jon Moxley's real-life heat with former RAW Superstar Brock Lesnar
Arn Anderson spoke about Jon Moxley's match against former RAW Superstar Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32 on his podcast. The two men clashed in an underwhelming match that was completely dominated by The Beast Incarnate.
Jon Moxley has stated in multiple interviews that he had a lot of ideas for his match against Brock Lesnar which were met with 'laziness' by Lesnar. The former AEW Champion was vocally unhappy with Lesnar and the WWE for ignoring all his ideas:
''I know that he [Moxley] was frustrated because he did want to have… that was a huge match for him, that he would have on his tool belt for the rest of his career, and he wanted to use the weapons as a way to get himself back even, maybe even get an advantage and put himself in a position to win. But, as we know, Brock does what Brock wants to do. He always has.”
Arn Anderson further stated that even big names like John Cena and Randy Orton had essentially jobbed out to Brock Lesnar in one-sided affairs. Anderson believes the match between the two could have been much more impressive had they made better use of the weapons.
#4 Finn Balor excited about RAW Superstar Becky Lynch's surprise return
Former RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch had to relinquish her title last year after announcing her pregnancy. Speaking to WWE Now India, Finn Balor talked about The Man and how excited he is for her to return to WWE soon.
NXT champion Finn Balor is close friends with RAW Superstar Becky Lynch and had tons of praise to shower on her. He even hinted that we may get to see a 'surprise return' from Becky Lynch sometime soon:
“I think she has exceeded everybody’s expectations in what she has done, and how she has performed over the last couple of years. I’m very excited to see her back, hopefully soon. So, I think it’s a great time for returns in this business, so hopefully there’ll be a surprise return of Becky Lynch and we can all celebrate together.”
Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins have recently become parents and it would be ambitious to think that Becky Lynch will return to RAW anytime soon. However, it is possible that The Man will make her return for a one-off appearance at WrestleMania 37.
#3 Details on Brock Lesnar's shoot fights with RAW Superstar Shelton Benjamin
Jim Cornette recently spoke about Brock Lesnar and RAW Superstar Shelton Benjamin's time in OVW. He revealed how the two men used to engage in shoot fights with each other. Cornette admitted that these shoot fights were mostly friendly in nature and became a part of their training process in OVW.
Jim Cornette was the head booker of OVW when it was a developmental territory for WWE. Speaking on his podcast, Jim Cornette revealed how former RAW Superstar Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin would try to one-up one another while training:
''Shelton of course was a high-level amateur at Minnesota and was one of the assistant coaches on the team that Brock was on. So they did a little bit... they were, uh... Shelton was riding him just a tad bit for a second there. They used to like to do that in OVW in training. They've talked about it. Brock, and Shelton, and we had Brian Keck, and Sylvester Terkay. And, you know, all those guys, they would friendly shoot around a little bit. It was fun."
Though Shelton Benjamin is at par with Brock Lesnar when it comes to athletic ability, the RAW Superstar has never won the WWE Championship in his career whereas Lesnar is a 5-time WWE Champion.
#2 Reason behind The Hurt Business' split on RAW
The Hurt Business was split last week on RAW when WWE Champion Bobby Lashley and MVP ousted former RAW Tag Team Champions Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin from their stable.
This came as a big surprise to fans as The Hurt Business was a dominant faction on RAW and was well-received by everyone. As per Fightful Select, the members of the RAW faction were as confused as everyone else when they came to know about the plan to break the group. It is also reported that the decision to break the Hurt Business was made solely by Vince McMahon.
Bobby Lashley and MVP reportedly tried to dissuade McMahon from making such a move, but the WWE Chairman was very 'adamant' about bringing The Hurt Business to an end.
#1 Future plans for Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander on RAW
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that WWE doesn't have any big plans for Benjamin and Alexander on RAW. He stated that there is a high chance that Lashley might feud with the two men post WrestleMania but they will likely just be 'squash matches' for The All-Mighty:
"But the breakup feud will likely be Lashley squashing both Benjamin and Alexander on RAW and them fading into the abyss like the Retribution guys."
This week on RAW, Bobby Lashley made quick work of Cedric Alexander and even attacked Benjamin after his match with Alexander was finished.
