RAW In A Nutshell: Will There Be A Viper In The Firefly Fun House

We begin this week as all other wrestling weeks: another RAW In A Nutshell. This time around, we ask: will there be a Viper in the Fun House?

It’s a loaded question for a loaded situation.

This, of course, refers to the escalating conflict between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton, with Alexa Bliss squarely involved too.

Last week on RAW, the trio kicked off the show with a very interesting segment, that was not without some unexpected backstage heat.

Orton and Wyatt are two of the best in WWE at playing mind games, and this week it appears as though the Viper will be in the Fun House. He may not be invited, however.

Still, that was our big hook from WWE heading into this one: will there be a Viper in the Fun House?

It’s an intriguing question as we head toward TLC. There are other items to resolve, with the final PPV of 2020 just a couple weeks away.

So…will there be a Viper in the Fun House?

Let’s crack open this Nutshell and find out!

Best Match of the night:

I did like Wyatt and Orton, and it does make me a bit intrigued to see how things turn out at TLC.

WWE promised we’d see a Viper in the Fun House, and their action tonight did not disappoint.

However, I liked all the things in play during the handicap match.

There is that ever-looming dynamic of “when will Sheamus turn on Drew McIntyre”, complete with the announcers even saying as much. Yes, Sheamus drilled him with a Brogue Kick, but this time it was inadvertent.

Outside of that, the match worked well.

Worst match of the night:

It wasn’t terrible in terms of action, but it felt weird getting Asuka and Shayna Baszler with no hype (but maybe we should be used to it). But that wasn’t even the worst.

What is up with Retribution? Like, we knew from how they were going about things over the summer, this was a trainwreck in progress…but wow.

Having your “leader” cause distractions and, as a result, losses in consecutive weeks? No idea where this goes, if it goes anywhere…but it’s a weird play, and thus, my worst match of the evening.

Star of the Night

I am going to say…this could have gone several ways. Orton and especially Wyatt, for pulling off that quick change at the end?

Absolutely.

But I really thought there was some nice work between McIntyre and Sheamus, and there’s some potential there, I think.

Spot of the Night:

How about Pat Buck going through the table in the back?

Jobber of the Night:

And, for the second section in a row…Pat Buck!

Upset of the Night:

I have none to speak of.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

We’ve seen plenty of Fiend appearances before, but I have to give them credit for this one.

Orton RKO’d Wyatt as the lights were shutting off, pinning him in the process…

When the lights came back on, shortly after they went out, Bray had transformed to The Fiend.

As in, sweater off, pants off, mask on, hair down, contacts in…and Orton still pinning him. I am sure they had a method to do so, but I cannot easily grasp how they did that all so fast.

Botch of the night:

Either Riddle botched the Hardy Bros delivery, or that’s part of his new stoner Spicoli-esque character. Hard to tell, but I am going with botch for now.

LOL Moment of the night:

Honestly, the brawl sequence between McIntyre and Sheamus was funny.

Like, it was two brothers who were mad at each other…which is relatable.

In the background, you saw Drew Gulak, Lucha House Party and who knows who else taking pictures and acting like paparazzi or whatever.

Then Pat Buck intervenes, and the angry men found a new common enemy. How dare he interrupt their therapy session, right?!

So, for that transgression, Pat Buck got the snot beat out of him and then he was driven through a table.

See…told you it was funny…

Noteworthy Moment:

As with SmackDown on Friday, RAW was filled with memories of, and tributes to, Pat Patterson.

The WWE Hall of Famer and mainstay passed away last week, but it is clear he left an indelible mark on the WWE roster.

In some happy news, Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch welcomed their daughter Roux to the world.

Overall lowlights:

Am I the only one kind of losing interest in the Hurt Business/New Day program?

Like, they are tag teams, but we’ve had a bunch of singles matches. Let’s have the tag match, and if it’s time for a title change, let’s do it.

Not sure I am going to warm up to the aloof Riddle character now. I get the relaxed vibe, but when it comes to a comparable, I think I’d rather Riddle play it more like RVD.

Overall highlights:

In spite of the goofiness, I am curious where Riddle and Hardy could go…

Big highlights for me?

The tributes for Pat Patterson.

Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, AJ, Miz and Morrison…solid to say the least.

Orton and Wyatt…enough said.

After the final bell:

It did not take long to find out if we’d get a Viper in the Firefly Fun House, and it did not disappoint.

Well, we can clearly see what matches are going to be happening at TLC, generally speaking. It will be interesting to see which matches are going to take advantage of the TLC stipulations.

That’s the one concern I might have-that while the matches are coming into focus, the stipulations, if any, have yet to be set up.

Of course, those can all be established next week on the go-home show, so it’s not a huge deal…just bugs me a little (and I don’t particularly matter all that much).