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From Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton's main event match to Ricochet and Dana Brooke teaming up together for a mixed tag team bout, this week's edition of WWE RAW featured many contrasting moments.
On the road to WWE TLC, last night's episode from the Red brand felt like a filler episode for the most part, except for Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton's rivalry and the WWE Championship scenario.
A few mid-card and under-card matches or segments felt somewhat unimportant in the grander scheme of things.
Let us know what you thought about this particular episode in the comments section below.
Here are the five biggest news stories from this week's episode of WWE RAW (December 7, 2020).
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#5: Riddle trended on Twitter after his 'BRONUTTS' segments and also teased to form a tag team with Jeff Hardy on WWE RAW
Even though Riddle's laidback antics may not connect with the older generation of WWE fans, Riddle managed to attract a lot of attention with his backstage segments from this week's WWE RAW.
Riddle offered some donuts from a box labeled 'BRONUTTS' to Dana Brooke and Ricochet in the first of two backstage segments.
In the second backstage segment, Riddle approached Jeff Hardy before the latter's match with Bobby Lashley. In both instances, all Superstars politely declined to eat the donuts being offered by Riddle.
Riddle proposed that he and Jeff team up to form a tag team called The Hardy Bros., without any mention of Matt Hardy. It would be interesting to see if WWE turns that idea into an actual tag team judging by the popularity it has received so far.
Later, Riddle came to Jeff Hardy's rescue when MVP tried to pull some shenanigans during Lashley and Hardy's match. While The All-Mighty made Hardy tap out eventually, it has become pretty apparent that Riddle and Lashley will end up being the prime focus in the U.S. title picture on WWE RAW.
#4: Mustafa Ali broke into another fit after RETRIBUTION's Reckoning failed to redeem herself on WWE RAW
RETRIBUTION's entire WWE arc has been a series of huge booking pitfalls with some instances of hope in between. Mustafa Ali's arrival in RETRIBUTION felt like things were finally turning around for the better, but the booking hasn't improved in terms of quality since then.
Reckoning recently assumed a bigger role in RETRIBUTION by facing Dana Brooke inside the ring last week. However, Reckoning lost that match and suffered the wrath of Mustafa Ali.
Previously, Ali said there was no room for failure in RETRIBUTION. But the faction failed once again on this week's WWE RAW when Slapjack and Reckoning were defeated by Ricochet and Dana Brooke in a mixed tag team match.
It was established that Reckoning may have gotten distracted because of Ali barking orders at her, but teasing a faction breakup just when Reckoning entered the forefront seems like a premature decision.
Moreover, Dana Brooke and Ricochet randomly teamed up together against a unit like RETRIBUTION. So the fact that the anti-WWE faction couldn't overcome a random tag team hurts their momentum on the Red brand.
#3: Lana escaped from the clutches of Nia Jax on WWE RAW, but she has to wrestle Jax in a one-on-one match next week
Lana may have broken the streak of being put through a table by Nia Jax every week, but she must face her fears on next week's WWE RAW.
Last night, Asuka faced Shayna Baszler in a one-on-one match. Lana and Nia Jax were present near ringside, and Jax eventually attacked Lana. When Lana escaped from Nia's clutches, it was enough to distract Baszler inside the ring.
This distraction allowed Asuka to pin The Queen of Spades and pick up the victory. Later backstage, Asuka gave Lana a pep talk about the latter's match against Nia Jax next week.
Lana felt a bit confident after Asuka encouraged her backstage. But Jax looming over the underdog to end the segment might have increased Lana's self-doubts heading into next week's WWE RAW.
The only way Lana goes over next week is through some shenanigans. And given that Asuka will be teaming up with her at WWE TLC to wrestle for the tag team titles, The Empress of Tomorrow might help Lana overcome her bully in the next episode.
#2: Sheamus accidentally kicked his partner Drew McIntyre in a 2-on-3 handicap match; Sheamus and McIntyre's backstage brawl ended with a WWE official being slammed through a table
The scenario of Sheamus potentially betraying Drew McIntyre has been acknowledged on WWE TV. And this plot point was used to set up an unintentional accident during the 2-on-3 handicap match on WWE RAW.
Firstly, The Miz and John Morrison mocking Sheamus and McIntyre's accents, and The Scottish Warrior launching Miz's MITB briefcase from the ring to the stage were both entertaining aspects leading up to the match.
The team of AJ Styles, Miz and Morrison was able to pick up the victory when Sheamus accidentally Brogue-kicked his mate, Drew McIntyre.
Speaking of mates, McIntyre and Sheamus settled this issue in a good old backstage tussle, which ended with both of them tossing Pat Buck through a table. McIntyre knew what Sheamus did was an accident, but both of them brawled to get their frustrations out of the system anyway. Doesn't that sound like the most Irish thing ever?
Just like Braun Strowman, both McIntyre and Sheamus will also face repercussions for putting their hands on a WWE official.
#1: Bray Wyatt transformed into The Fiend to ambush Randy Orton in the main event of WWE RAW
Randy Orton was going to invite himself to the Firefly Fun House, or at least that's what WWE had advertised ahead of this week's RAW.
But that shouldn't take away from what was an excellent arc between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt last night, even though Orton didn't enter the Firefly Fun House in any capacity.
Instead, Orton thought to trick Bray Wyatt by challenging him to a match on WWE RAW. Wyatt cheerfully accepted, and The Viper thought he had manipulated Wyatt as a result.
That didn't turn out to be the case in the main event, as Bray Wyatt transformed into The Fiend towards the end of the match via some editing by WWE's production crew.
It was a great moment as Randy Orton received a Mandible Claw from Bray Wyatt's evil alter-ego to end the show. This indicated that Wyatt was in control of the situation all along, and he was the one who had manipulated Orton by accepting The Viper's in-ring challenge.
While Randy Orton didn't enter the Fun House this week, it was as if Bray Wyatt brought the Fun House to Randy Orton on WWE RAW. The backstage segment with Randy Orton and Ramblin' Rabbit and the way how every puppet interacted during the Firefly Fun House segment proved the same.
Alexa Bliss is currently busy working alongside Charlotte Flair for an upcoming project, which is why she wasn't present during WWE RAW this week. But it will be interesting to see how Alexa will get involved in this saga once she returns soon.
In the video embedded above, do check out former WWE Head Writer Vince Russo's thoughts on all that went down during this week's RAW in the latest edition of Legion of RAW with Dr. Chris Featherstone.
