RAW In A Nutshell: Red Brand Getting Ready For Elimination Chamber

It’s another RAW in a Nutshell, and this week will be spent with the red brand getting ready for Elimination Chamber.

No, it’s not the go home show-that comes next week. The Elimination Chamber event is still just under two weeks away.

However, it is rapidly approaching, and tonight is all about getting ready for the next event on WWE’s calendar.

And, every road trip has some detours, right? For RAW, thanks to the Olympics, the detour is a change of broadcast homes…to another channel in the NBCU umbrella.

In a way, it’s a bit of a trip down Memory Lane, as fans remember RAW on SyFy before…

But that is neither here nor there.

This week, we can expect the conclusion of the academic challenge between the Alpha Academy and RK-Bro.

Might we see more Chamber matches made? It seems possible, though we learned of the women’s Chamber earlier on Monday.

Either way, the mission tonight is clear…the red brand is getting ready for Elimination Chamber.

So, let’s get into it…

RAW In A Nutshell: Red Brand Getting Ready For Elimination Chamber

Let’s crack open this Nutshell and see what goes down!

Best Match of the night:

I have option A and option B.

Option A: Doudrop and Liv Morgan.

Honestly found this to be a fun match to watch.

Option B: Seth Rollins and Riddle…right up until it became a tag match. Tag wasn’t bad either…just hate when they start one on one and morph into a tag.

I get the feeling WWE is working to build Riddle back up toward a main event level Superstar…even if the Riddle-Rumble rumors weren’t true.

Worst match of the night:

This could have been Miz-Dom…or Bianca versus Nikki.

Both were short…which could be seen as both a good and bad thing.

Star of the Night

There are a few options. I like them all, and I think none did enough to stand out…

Bobby Lashley (and MVP) for a strong, Brock-free segment.

Seth Rollins did well for himself too.

And then, there is Riddle…even with him taking the main event loss.

Spot of the Night:

Montez Ford can fly-that’s not new.

But the dude full on did a Superman pose when he flew over the top rope. Maybe he’s done it before and I missed it, but either way…good stuff.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Been there, done that…so why not go back to it?

Which is funny, because we just heard how when the initial “Eddie is Dom’s dad” angle aired, Dom’s teacher worried about him…
 

Botch of the night:

Randy Orton, I believe, botched a line during the Quiz Bowl opening segment.

Making a pot joke (I think), he was supposed to say “what, you think you’re the only one that bakes?”. But, instead, he said “what, you think I’m the only one who bakes”.

Minor, but oops.

LOL Moment of the night:

The Quiz Bowl segment was funny for the most part, from the buzzer to Gable getting mad at being told to shush.

The weed jokes hit, especially being in the Mile High City.

Noteworthy Moment:

So now we’ve got seeds planted by Sonya Deville that, maybe Kevin Owens won’t go to WrestleMania? Interesting…

I liked Lashley’s home town promo this week. While Lesnar speaking about title versus title at ‘Mania is hard to ignore…it’s not the right match, I don’t think.

Either way, it’s never a bad idea to book Bobby strong.

Looks like Alexa Bliss might be turning a corner in her therapy…

Could she be the last woman in the Chamber match?

Overall lowlights:

Aside from showing off Miz as an obnoxious heel…I wasn’t loving the revisiting of the “Maybe Eddie is your dad” stuff.

Overall highlights:

Liked Lashley’s promo, for the most part. MVP with the Heyman imitation was great too.

I have a feeling the Quiz Bowl will have been more well-liked by more fans than any of us expected…it was good stuff.

Kevin Owens has his road to WrestleMania…sort of. Based on what has transpired, I feel Owens-Rollins makes too much sense.

Riddle could maybe be getting elevated soon? Feels like he’s starting to sniff the rare air again…

After the final bell:

Well, the red brand is certainly getting ready for the Elimination Chamber…and I have to be honest…

Many prior shows from the Middle East were not all that exciting. This one feels different.

Could this finally be a great Saudi-based “premium live event”? Might be.

Certainly won’t be for lack of trying.