Here are the biggest questions coming out of WWE Raw this week.
The Sept. 14 episode of WWE Raw closed with RETRIBUTION ruining a match between Keith Lee and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. Had Lee won the match, he would have earned an opportunity at McIntyre’s championship. McIntyre is currently still scheduled to face Randy Orton, though the Viper has been absent from television after absorbing three Claymores from McIntyre.
But that wasn’t the only big development on this week’s show. Zelina Vega stepped up as Asuka’s next possible challenger, Seth Rollins won a steel cage match over Dominik Mysterio, and Braun Strowman showed up in Raw Underground.
Here are five burning questions after the show.
What is Braun Strowman’s ceiling in WWE Raw Underground?
Braun Strowman was a SmackDown superstar and held the Universal Championship on the Blue Brand before dropping it to Bray Wyatt at SummerSlam. The Monster Among Men turned heel after feuding with Wyatt, as the Fiend drowned him in the swamp during the Wyatt Swamp Fight at Extreme Rules in July.
Now, Strowman has shown up on WWE Raw, perhaps via a trade like Mandy Rose, and he wreaked havoc on Raw Underground. Next week, Strowman will face Dabba-Kato on Raw Underground, which will be a battle between one of WWE’s most established big men and a wrestler who could quickly make a name for himself on Raw Underground.
But what is Strowman’s upside on Raw Underground? That’s unclear. He could be an important recurring character and even a champion if the “show” adds a title. Raw Underground could be a great way for Strowman to build another side of his character. In terms of lasting power, I’m not so sure, but we’ll see how long Braun spends. He’s always belonged on Raw anyway.
Is the Hurt Business the best part of WWE Raw?
The Hurt Business added another member last week when Cedric Alexander turned on his tag team partners Ricochet and Apollo Crews. This week, Alexander explained his actions, stating that he wrestles to provide for his family. He wants to be on the winning side and make money, as he is tired of being broken down each and every week in losing efforts. Totally understandable.
With Alexander, the Hurt Business have one of the most talented young stars on WWE Raw. Alexander was an amazing Cruiserweight Champion as 205 Live’s top babyface alongside Mustafa Ali, and he could do big things on Monday nights if Vince McMahon would just believe in him.
But the biggest impact the Hurt Business made this week was at the end of the show. RETRIBUTION ruined the main event match between Drew McIntyre and Keith Lee, storming the ring again. Except this time, the Hurt Business backed up their words earlier in the show and came out to help Lee and McIntyre take out RETRIBUTION.
Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, MVP, and Alexander. This stable is the next great stable in WWE history. They have a world champion-caliber wrestler in Lashley, an established veteran in Benjamin who really should have been world champion in his career, an experienced manager in MVP, and a future world champion in Alexander. And they could still add more.
The Hurt Business is just getting started. As my colleague Raphael Garcia wrote, this faction is ready to make an impact in the main event of Raw week after week, and they certainly made a statement in that direction by taking care of RETRIBUTION.
Will Mickie James get another shot at the WWE Raw Women’s Title?
Mickie James and Asuka had a non-title match on WWE Raw this week, with Asuka coming out on top under controversial circumstances. The referee ended the match abruptly as James was seemingly emerging from the Asuka Lock, and the referee stated that Mickie was no longer able to continue.
It seems as if James did such a good job of selling that the referee thought she was out of it and could not continue wrestling. James must have sold the heck out of an injury, but, in the process, could not add to what was another incredible match between the two of them.
James vs. Asuka needs to happen again, but for the Raw Women’s Championship. Another wrestler seems to be in line for a title opportunity against Asuka, and both James and Asuka appear to be baybfaces right now. And then Natalya isn’t done with Mickie either, judging by Lana’s jealous backstage promo in reference to the James vs. Asuka match this week.
Still, Asuka and Mickie produced magic together in 2016 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, and they could have a show-stealing match on Pay Per View. James is still one of the best in the business, and Asuka has been right there with Bayley and Sasha Banks as one of the best wrestlers of 2020. We need to see this match one more time, with the title on the line, and with a conclusive ending.
Has Murphy turned babyface?
Murphy has been Seth Rollins’ disciple for several months, but he has very little to show for it. The former Cruiserweight Champion has done everything he can to aid his false prophet in his twisted fantasies of serving the “Greater Good” of Monday Night Raw, but he has no individual success to speak of thus far.
At Payback, Murphy and Rollins lost a tag team match against Dominik and Rey Mysterio, as Murphy accidentally kicked Rollins. As you’d expect, Seth was irate, and it seemed like their partnership would be over.
Then this week, Murphy and Rollins were backstage, with Rollins seemingly forgiving Murphy for his error. But it was another ruse from the unpredictable Monday Night Messiah. Rollins slapped and choked out Murphy, yelling at him to make sure he didn’t try to help in the steel cage match between Rollins and Dominik.
Murphy did help and to great effect, as his assistance played a role in Rollins defeating Dominik. But Rollins was still enraged and beat up Murphy at ringside viciously.
After the loss at Payback, Murphy was still clearly a heel, but he was humbled by the Mysterios in a Raw-closing beatdown last week. This week, he asked for mercy from Rollins and received none. In my eyes, Murphy’s transition to being a babfyace is complete.
Will Zelina Vega face Asuka at Clash of Champions?
The WWE Championship match is set for Clash of Champions, as is the Universal Championship match and SmackDown Women’s Championship match on the other brand. Even the Women’s Tag Title bout was announced before this week’s episode of WWE Raw.
So that leaves the future of Asuka’s championship on Sept. 27 unknown. But if this week’s episode is any indication, then Asuka will have a new challenger in Zelina Vega, who seems ready to begin her singles career.
For months, we’ve seen friction between Andrade and Angel Garza, and it finally seems to be coming to a head. We saw the two men brawl a little bit backstage after Garza disrespected Zelina, who rightfully confronted Garza for walking out on the team again.
Zelina addressed Asuka and said she was sick of wasting valuable time in her career managing two men who can’t follow basic directions instead of focusing on herself. Everything she said was believable and felt like it was a long time coming.
Wrestling fans have wanted Zelina to both manage and wrestle, but, for the longest time, WWE seemed a lot more interested in just having her be a manager. And she’s the best in the game at it, so there was some reasoning behind that decision.
Zelina is basically skipping to the front of the line and is headed for a loss at Clash of Champions if she’s the opponent. However, what matters is if she has a strong showing. If Vega can impress, her singles career on WWE Raw would be off to a flying start.