2 things that went right on the June 20 episode of WWE Raw

Per the post-show Daily DDT Twitter poll, nearly 49 percent of respondents viewed this week’s episode of WWE Raw favorably. Much of that positivity is probably thanks to Becky Lynch and Asuka’s efforts at the start and close of the show, but the performances of those two weren’t the only things fans liked about Raw.

We saw some solid in-ring work sprinkled throughout the three-hour telecast, and while some of the angles on the show weren’t for this author, they worked with the live audience, and that’s what should matter the most to the promotion.

So, which other matches/segments resonated with the viewers? Well, that’s what we’re here to discuss today.

These are three things that went right on the June 20 episode of WWE Raw.

Elias’ concert/Kevin Owen’s continued quest to expose Ezekiel

As stated in previous iterations of these pieces, there isn’t much to this Kevin Owens/Ezekiel storyline. Clearly, WWE didn’t put much thought into this feud into this outside of the “we know we change wrestlers’ names all the time and expect you to forget their prior history” lampshade hanging, but thankfully, it has a wrestler like Kevin Owens on the roster to carry the storytelling load.

Through his reliably stellar character work, Owens has held this program together, as we saw this week during the returning Elias’ concert. The concert itself featured the usual Elias fare that works better in front of a live crowd (not a big fan of “The Drifter”), but Owens interrupting and questioning him on his identity before taking a guitar shot showed how vital Owens’ charisma and dedication to being a good foil is to this whole thing.

To be clear, Ezekiel has held up his end; the split-screen with him and Elias was good and he has done a nice job playing off of Owens. That said, if you replace Owens in this feud with another middling heel, this would probably be much worse than it is (they are feuding over a man’s identity, which is only slightly better than feuding over a letter in the alphabet).

Even with Owens, this definitely has a short shelf life, but it hasn’t reached the expiration date yet.

Becky Lynch loses clean to Asuka

Even with WWE calling a slight audible to get Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair a new opponent for Money in the Bank, we still got our advertised Money in the Bank qualifying match between Asuka and Becky Lynch in the show’s main event.

While there were a few clunky spots (keep in mind that this was Asuka and Lynch’s second match of the night), the two’s skill and chemistry with one another more than made up for rough spots and made this an entertaining television main event.

In the end, Asuka scored the pin to qualify, which increases the star power for the women’s ladder match while continuing the “Becky is on a downward spiral” story that will, hopefully, end with “The Man” as a babyface again. Lynch has become immune to these sorts of losses, especially to a wrestler of Asuka’s stature, and her sell of the defeat has fans wondering what’s next for her character.