{"id":92682,"date":"2020-02-03T14:55:33","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T20:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=92682"},"modified":"2020-02-03T14:55:33","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T20:55:33","slug":"wwe-raw-primer-2-3-why-randy-why-drew-readies-for-the-beast-owens-not-done-the-queen-continues-to-ponder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/02\/03\/wwe-raw-primer-2-3-why-randy-why-drew-readies-for-the-beast-owens-not-done-the-queen-continues-to-ponder\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE RAW PRIMER 2\/3: Why Randy Why? Drew Readies for the Beast, Owens Not Done, The Queen Continues to Ponder"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2751828494\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER<br \/>\nSALT LAKE CITY, UT. AT THE VIVINT SMART HOME ARENA<br \/>\nFEBRUARY 3, 2020<br \/>\nAIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST<br \/>\nBY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST<\/h3>\n<p><em>Announcers: Tom Phillips, Jerry \u201cThe King\u201d Lawler, Byron Saxton<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Arena, Top 10 Moments from Last Week, and Items Advertised by WWE<\/h3>\n<p>WWE Raw makes its first appearance in the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, UT. The building opened in October of 1991 and, according to prowrestling.fandom.com, has never hosted a WWE event. It is the home of the NBA\u2019S Utah Jazz and the WNBA\u2019s Utah Starzz. Certain events of the 2002 Winter Olympics also took place in this venue.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the top 10 moments of last week\u2019s Raw:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Top 10 Raw moments: WWE Top 10, Jan. 27, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/P-7qAeRg8Ss?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We come off of a week where some building blocks were put in places and seeds planted for WrestleMania. For certain we know that 2020 Royal Rumble winner Drew McIntyre will challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship. Randy Orton attacked long-time friend Edge to close out the show, and it\u2019s fair to expect that they\u2019ll have a one-on-one match with possibly a stipulation in play. We\u2019ll see on that. With that said, WWE doesn\u2019t have their preview up as of noon EST, so we\u2019ll look at some of the big talking points coming out of last week\u2019s show that we can expect to have follow-up<\/p>\n<h3>Randy Orton Explains His Actions<\/h3>\n<p>Edge closed out Raw last week expressing his excitement to be back competing on WWE property. He recalled the circumstances that led to his retirement. As he was feeling better as the years went on, he asked himself \u201cwhat if.\u201d All in all, he said he didn\u2019t know how long his being back would last but he was happy to know he could retire on his terms.<\/p>\n<p>Randy Orton appeared and embraced his long-time rival and friend. He talked about how Edge was family to him and was the person to which he could turn when he dug himself into a deep hole. He then suggested their former team Rated RKO get back together before giving him an RKO. He put his head in a chair and was going to jump off the turnbuckle but had second thoughts. When it appeared that he was done, he put a chair under Edge\u2019s head and then bashed it with another. Here\u2019s a WWE.com exclusive of what happened after Raw went off the air:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"See the aftermath of Randy Orton\u2019s assault on Edge: Raw Exclusive, Jan. 27, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/p2keOsA8Dlg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Watching Smackdown on Friday (if you stuck around for the smelly dog food), we learned that on Raw Randy will explain his actions.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I can\u2019t lie, this made me uncomfortable to watch. I get the purpose of the story and at the end of the day, I\u2019m sure Randy knows what he\u2019s doing. Edge wouldn\u2019t let anyone else do this to him. I thought maybe they\u2019d team together for a little while and then do the turn. If Edge dates are limited as is rumored, then I could understand doing this now. They could keep him off TV for several weeks and bring him back to set up a \u2018Mania match. Hey look, the segment had impact, which can\u2019t be said for most other parts of WWE programming.<\/em><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2843878627\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h3><strong>Drew McIntyre Set to Challenge Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania for the WWE Championship<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Last week to open the show, 2020 Royal Rumble winner Drew McIntyre made it clear he was challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. He talked about his emotional win and made no bones about what his plans were as a result of the rumble victory. He then defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson of the O.C. rather easily, as they answered his invitation to have a Claymore Party. Following the match, Brock Lesnar came out and gave Drew an F5.<\/p>\n<p>WrestleMania is obviously a few months away, but we can expect to start building towards this match given they went right to Brock giving the F5. Whether they do backstage interviews or in-ring promos remains to be seen. Brock likely doesn\u2019t wrestle until \u2018Mania, so they\u2019ll be heavy on the promos for sure. Drew is without a doubt emotional about his win, as is evident by this tweet last week:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The outpour of support since last night has been overwhelming. Fans, peers, family, friends, thank you!!! I promise to get back to everyone when I can&#8230;.if this is a dream, do me a favor and don\u2019t wake me up <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ImGoingToWrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ImGoingToWrestleMania<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/m4kyQODQfv\">pic.twitter.com\/m4kyQODQfv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Drew (@DMcIntyreWWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DMcIntyreWWE\/status\/1221839993267806209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 27, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I didn\u2019t like beating the O.C. so easily. If A.J. Styles is in fact hurt as a result of the rumble, it\u2019s likely they just get buried. WWE for the most part has kept them low on the card if on TV at all. I like the clarity of Drew\u2019s mission, but they could have held off on Brock giving the F5. It wasn\u2019t the end of the world though. I expect we learn a lot about Drew heading into this match. As long as they don\u2019t remind us of 3MB, I\u2019m good.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Charlotte\u2019s Web<\/h3>\n<p>Sorry I couldn\u2019t help it.<\/p>\n<p>Charlotte Flair, winner of the 2020 Women\u2019s Royal Rumble, was set to make an announcement last week. We all assumed she would declare whom she was facing at WrestleMania, but instead she said she was still thinking about it. She then took on Asuka of the Kabuki Warriors, whom she defeated by DQ as a result of Kairi Sane\u2019s interference.<\/p>\n<p>It remains to be seen whom she will choose. Raw Women\u2019s Champion Becky Lynch, a frequent opponent of Charlotte\u2019s through the years, said it would be the last time Charlotte faces her if she chooses her. Rumors are floating about that NXT Women\u2019s Champion Rhea Ripley could be Charlotte\u2019s choice. Expect follow-up on this tonight.<\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: If they have Charlotte vs. Becky, they\u2019d have to tell a completely different story. Charlotte vs. Bayley feels like a big nothing (assuming Bayley stays Smackdown Women\u2019s Champion). Rhea Ripley would be fresh and interesting, but I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the right time for that. I feel like Charlotte would have to put Rhea over and I\u2019d rather see that later rather than sooner, but that\u2019s just my opinion. You could also someone wrangle Shayna Baszler into winning either the Raw or Smackdown title and Charlotte challenge her. There are a lot of bouncing balls and it will be interesting to see what decisions are made.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Kevin Owens Not Done with Tag Champs<\/h3>\n<p>Last week, Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe unsuccessfully challenged Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins &amp; Buddy Murphy for the titles. Unfortunately, Joe suffered a legitimate injury mid-match when he dove out of the ring onto Murphy. He was clutching his neck and was shown being reluctantly directed to the back when they came back from break. Owens continued the match on his own and capitulated to a roll-up by Murphy after giving a stunner to Rollins.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3897105006\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Owens claims he is not done with Seth Rollins and his \u201cdisciples,\u201d as he says in a WWE exclusive. We\u2019ll see how much they talk about Joe\u2019s injury, which is just crazy considering he came back from being out for a few months just at the end of December. Expect follow-up on this story as Raw has features Owens &amp; Joe tangled with Rollins &amp; Murphy &amp; AOP:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kevin Owens is not done with Seth Rollins and his disciples: Raw Exclusive: Jan. 27, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Int2FmISNUU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Frank\u2019s Analysis: I wish Joe could stay off the injury list, as he\u2019s just so good. It still is interesting to me how it\u2019s going to work with Rollins &amp; Murphy and AOP moving forward. You would have to expect AOP wants the titles, right? Big Show could come back into the fray if Joe is down considering Owens mentions him in the interview.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Other Matches and Issues from Last Week:<\/h3>\n<p>Rey Mysterio defeated MVP. Apparently, this was a one off as MVP wants to transition to a backstage role but wanted to wrestle Rey as he\u2019s his son\u2019s favorite wrestler. Here\u2019s MVP in a WWE exclusive:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"MVP reflects on his amazing weekend: Raw Exclusive, Jan. 27, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t_eT4220kEA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Aleister Black won another squash match. Afterwards he said he wasn\u2019t waiting for people to knock on his door, but he would bring the fight to others. Good idea Aleister.<\/p>\n<p>Andrade retained the U.S. Championship when he lost to Humberto Carrillo via count out. Carrillo attacked Andrade after the match. We learned the next day Andrade was suspended for 30 days as a result of violating WWE\u2019s wellness policy.<\/p>\n<p>Liv Morgan defeated Lana. Here\u2019s Liv in a WWE exclusive:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Liv Morgan is fulfilling karmic debts: Raw Exclusive, Jan. 27, 2020\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ecMInvXDKhc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Erick Rowan won another squash match. Can we get to the next step with this already?<\/p>\n<h3>Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n<p>Raw continues to have solid overall programming as opposed to the other show on Fox for which WWE is getting paid a billion dollars. Wade Keller and I scratched our heads on the Smackdown post show trying to make heads or tails out of them booking another dog food segment (dog food that smells so bad!). Ugggh. Anyway, it\u2019ll be interesting to see how the story between Drew McIntyre and Brock Lesnar is told and what does Charlotte Flair decide to do in terms of whom she is challenging. Between that and everything involved with Seth Rollins and his crew, you have a nice collection of stories on Raw that could lead to those portions of the upcoming shows being very good.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome! Thank you for reading.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/01\/29\/wwe-raw-hits-misses-1-27-edge-orton-segment-tom-phillips-and-byron-saxton-mcintyres-promo-humberto-vs-andrade-charlotte-promo-mysterio-vs-mvp-lana-vs-morgan-street-profits-mojo\/\">WWE RAW HITS &amp; MISSES 1\/27: Edge-Orton segment, Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton, McIntyre\u2019s promo, Humberto vs. Andrade, Charlotte promo, Mysterio vs. MVP, Lana vs. Morgan, Street Profits, Mojo<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1254465763\"><div id=\"pwtor-3979435676\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER SALT LAKE CITY, UT. AT THE VIVINT SMART HOME ARENA FEBRUARY 3, 2020 AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8:00 p.m. EST BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH SPECIALIST Announcers: Tom Phillips, Jerry <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2020\/02\/03\/wwe-raw-primer-2-3-why-randy-why-drew-readies-for-the-beast-owens-not-done-the-queen-continues-to-ponder\/\" title=\"WWE RAW PRIMER 2\/3: Why Randy Why? Drew Readies for the Beast, Owens Not Done, The Queen Continues to Ponder\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,52,4354,27,5893,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prowrestlingnews","category-opnionandanalysis","category-raw-primer","category-specialists","category-tvprimers","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/OrtonRandyWK3_3x2_600.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92689,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92682\/revisions\/92689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}