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From Randy Orton's intriguing appearance on 'A Moment of Bliss' to the WWE RAW Women's team for Survivor Series being revealed on the same show, this week's edition of the Red brand featured many contrasting moments.
The Hell in a Cell fallout on last night's RAW was interesting for several reasons. Some cross-branded matches for Survivor Series were announced this week, while the consequences of Hell in a Cell were also felt across the landscape of Monday Night RAW.
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A few major consequences for the future of WWE were also teased, which will be further discussed in this weekly column.
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 (October 26, 2020).
#5: Drew McIntyre defeated The Miz in an impromptu WWE match, proving that the new Mr. Money in the Bank isn't as dominant as the top players on RAW
Drew McIntyre lost his WWE Championship to Randy Orton at Hell in a Cell, while The Miz defeated Otis to become the new Mr. Money in the Bank as per contractual obligations.
When McIntyre opened this week's edition of RAW with a promo, The Miz and John Morrison interrupted to gloat about The A-Lister's success from last Sunday's pay-per-view. That was a bad call on The Miz's part, who found himself in a match against the former WWE Champion later in the night.
The Chosen One proved that he's still a dominant force in the ring, as he defeated The Miz without putting up too much effort despite the injuries he suffered at Hell in a Cell.
The storyline from WWE's past where Miz successfully cashed-in his first Money in the Bank against Randy Orton in the same arena as the ThunderDome ties in perfectly to the current scenario. The A-Lister will probably resort to his wide variety of dirty tricks to hang with the top athletes on RAW.
#4: The WWE RAW Women's team for Survivor Series was determined during this episode of the Red brand
In the predictions article for the RAW women's team at WWE Survivor Series, Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, and Lana were all mentioned. All three of those women ended up being a part of Team RAW this year.
Additionally, the newly-formed team of Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke earned a spot in Team RAW as well.
The WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler weren't too happy about the inclusion of the aforementioned tag team. After all, both teams are supposed to be rivals. Jax and Baszler themselves entered in an argument revolving around who should be the captain of Team RAW.
Lana won a Fatal-Four-Way match to earn the fifth and last spot in the team, and every other teammate was surprised when she picked up the victory. Lana isn't an ideal pick for the traditional Survivor Series match, but her underdog status, as well as her presence on Team RAW, intensifies her conflict with Nia Jax.
When Lana hugged Nia Jax after winning the Fatal-Four-Way match, Jax responded in the only way she could, which is by putting Lana through the commentary table for the sixth consecutive week on WWE RAW.
Do not be surprised if Lana turns into a babyface on the road to WWE Survivor Series, courtesy of the sympathy plot device.
#3: Sheamus, AJ Styles, and Keith Lee qualified for Team RAW; WWE NXT left out of Survivor Series 2020
It was rumored that WWE NXT was going to be a part of this year's Draft, but that didn't turn out to be the case. Unlike last year, the 2020 edition of Survivor Series may not feature NXT stars in any capacity. Of course, that could change over the next few weeks, but as of now, NXT wasn't advertised for Survivor Series during last night's WWE RAW.
As for the men's side of things at Survivor Series, AJ Styles faced his longtime rival, Jeff Hardy, in the first qualifying match of the night. Styles was able to pick up the victory, but Hardy wasn't done for the night, thanks to being on the receiving end of a post-match guitar shot at the hands of Elias.
Speaking of Elias, Keith Lee defeated The Drifter to secure his spot in the RAW men's Survivor Series team. Hardy returned the favor and attacked Elias with a guitar after this match was over.
The main event match of WWE RAW was a hard-hitting contest between Sheamus and Matt Riddle. After a back-and-forth bout, The Celtic Warrior hit a Brogue Kick on his opponent to earn the third spot on Team RAW.
#2: The Hurt Business defeated RETRIBUTION in an eight-man elimination tag match on WWE RAW
RETRIBUTION's booking has seen a few ups and a lot of downs, and for some reason, the anti-WWE faction isn't able to pick up a decisive victory on the Red brand.
In the eight-man elimination tag team match from last night's WWE RAW, fans may have witnessed one of the most cringeworthy moments on the Red brand in 2020.
Reckoning (Mia Yim) faked a seizure to distract The Hurt Business, which worked out fine for RETRIBUTION. Do not be surprised if GIFs of Mia Yim writhing around the ring pop up on social media because it looked bizarre in a bad way. Surely, there are other ways to cause a distraction, but WWE probably wanted to draw a huge reaction out of their fanbase by allowing the aforementioned spot to occur on live television.
In the end, Mustafa Ali disqualified his team to escape the two-on-one situation against The Hurt Business.
Ali cut a promo later saying that losing doesn't affect the primary goal of RETRIBUTION, which is to make WWE suffer in the long run. It's been thoroughly established that RETRIBUTION members aren't the most dominant athletes in the ring under a controlled environment. So the only way for them to gain some leverage would be for Mustafa Ali to resort back to his hacker tactics on WWE RAW.
#1: The Fiend encountered Randy Orton during 'A Moment of Bliss' on WWE RAW; Firefly Fun House easter eggs foreshadowed the Randy Orton confrontation and a potential confrontation between The Fiend and The Undertaker
Alexa Bliss and Bray Wyatt's arc on this week's WWE RAW began with an Alice in Wonderland-themed Firefly Fun House segment.
Bray Wyatt portrayed The Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, who went mad because of prolonged exposure to the chemicals involved in hat-making. Speaking of chemicals, Alexa Bliss poisoned Ramblin' Rabbit with arsenic during the Firefly Fun House segment.
WWE fans also got to see a demonic side of Alexa Bliss with fiendish eyes, sporting 'play' and 'pain' gloves inside the Firefly Fun House.
The cross symbol that Bray Wyatt introduced in Firefly Fun House recently was a prop that was featured in his feud with Randy Orton a few years ago. It foreshadowed The Fiend and Randy Orton's confrontation later in the night. The Viper was boxed in, thanks to Drew McIntyre crashing his appearance on 'A Moment of Bliss', and The Fiend blocked the entrance as well.
Orton didn't even turn around to face The Fiend, which left him with no other option but to feud with Drew McIntyre to close out the show.
A major easter egg from this week's Firefly Fun House segment was the 19/11 marking on Bray Wyatt's hat, which corresponds to the date when The Undertaker made his debut 30 years ago.
It will be interesting to see if The Fiend encounters The Undertaker during the latter's confirmed appearance at WWE Survivor Series. Meanwhile, Randy Orton has three major opponents to worry about at the moment: Drew McIntyre, 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt, and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, who was announced as The Viper's opponent for Survivor Series.
