In a night filled with debuts, happy returns and a wandering Beast in Brock Lesnar, let’s talk about the biggest winners to come out of the Feb. 3 episode of WWE Raw.
Plenty of WWE Superstars came out of last night’s episode of Raw looking mighty strong. Asuka picked up a win right before sealing a title match for herself. Kevin Owens nearly forced Seth Rollins’ disciples to blow a 3-1 lead (ala Golden State Warriors circa 2016). And of course, Rhea Ripley was … Rhea Ripley. Let’s face it, Ripley’s a winner just by walking into the room.
But the question is who came out of Raw looking the strongest? Let’s answer that question first by taking a look at Raw’s newest Superstar.
3. Angel Garza
A week ago, Angel Garza’s career was admittedly up in the air. He walked into 2020 in style after ending 2019 not only by reeling the NXT Cruiserweight Championship away from Lio Rush, but by proposing to his girlfriend on live television (she said yes, by the way, for anyone wondering). 2020 itself, however, has not been so kind to Garza.
The man lost his championship almost as fast as he won it after losing a Fatal Four Way at Worlds Collide just over a week ago. Then, he more or less disappeared.
Sure, he picked up a win on 205 Live some days later, but honestly, who watches 205 Live anymore? Not a lot of people and I say that as a huge fan of the Cruiserboys on the purple show.
The fact of the matter is that Garza lost his title in just 45 days, a rematch was not in his near future and neither was a lot of things.
But for better or worse, Andrade’s recent suspension works as a blessing in disguise for Garza as he steps up to take Andrade’s place in being managed by the biggest manager in WWE not named Paul Heyman and feuding with his cousin, Humberto Carrillo.
Even better, he debuted in a match with resident legend, Rey Mysterio. He may not have picked up a win, but he laid out the former World Champion, which is a win in itself. Expect a big future for Garza now that he’s with Zelina Vega.
2. Ruby Riott
The speculation and anticipation had been mounting for weeks as so many of us had been wondering when Ruby Riott could be making her expected return from injury.
The no brainer on everybody’s minds was that she would come back at the Royal Rumble. Yet, the Rumble came and went without Riott so much as a hint of the former Riott Squad leader making her way down the ramp.
Another no brainer was that she could enter a feud with Liv Morgan, but most of us expected such a Riott Squad reunion to come to fruition much later down the line, as Liv had her hands full with Lana at the moment. As it turns out, such a reunion was destined to happen even with Lana in tow.
Whether Riott ends up truly teaming up with Lana to take down Liv Morgan or if she wants her hands on Liv one-on-one remains to be seen. What matters is that Riott returned and inserted herself into one of the biggest angles on Monday Night Raw.
Yes, love it or hate it, this whole quadruple love triangle thing has many evented enough episodes of Raw this year to be considered a big deal and Riott pole vaulting herself into the mix immediately puts a spotlight on her. Not bad for someone who’s been away and injured for half of a year.
1. Ricochet
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Similar to Angel Garza as mentioned earlier, Ricochet’s career seemed a bit up in the air last week. Sure, he played a part in Brock Lesnar being eliminated from the Royal Rumble match, but he was also low blowed by Lesnar the previous week and did not even appear on Raw the following week.
Before last night, it was unclear what Ricochet could be doing going forward on the road to WrestleMania, yet alone at the Mania show in general. There was always a hope that he could somehow get himself a title match with Brock Lesnar, but the thought seemed more like a pipe dream than something that the brass up top would make into a reality.
Last night, that dream became a reality and Mr. One and Only hit the jackpot by earning himself a title shot.
Granted, the shot itself will take place at the much criticized Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia, but the fact that Ricochet was even considered backstage for a match with the WWE Champion at any show is a blessing in disguise for his career moving forward. It’s a huge opportunity for him, at that.
In one night, Ricochet was able to win big and for the next few weeks at least, his future looks bright.