Last month, it was reported that the chaos-driven faction Retribution would be Raw exclusive.
Because nothing says anarchy, like only appearing on one brand.
And since their debut, they’ve not featured on any pay-per-views either.
A run that was extended to Sunday’s Clash of Champions.
And Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet has revealed why.
He writes all five members of Retribution are being held in quarantine for two weeks
after last week’s reported Co-Vid19 outbreak at Performance Center where WWE are still
filming NXT.
But this affected the Thunderdome too, because a lot of the NXT wrestlers are being used
as filler members for Retribution.
It’s almost like there should be some kind of bubble-isolation system in place to protect
the various rosters.
If only every single piece of safety advice recommended that.
Thankfully, Satin adds that all of Retribution’s main five members have tested negative for
Covid itself, but have reportedly come into contact with someone who has tested positive.
They are now being isolated for two weeks as a precautionary measure.
That didn’t stop WWE advertising Retribution for last night’s Raw, where they only got
a video package and a light flickering spot in a Hurt Business match.
We likely won’t see them again until Raw’s Draft episode on the 12th.
Retribution aren’t the only ones to be quarantined, though, as Dave Meltzer is reporting Nikki
Cross, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler have all also been forced into isolation.
Meltzer went on to say that “at least one of the three” does not have Covid, but similarly
to Retribution, are isolating as a precaution.
Two WWE referees have also been quarantined, with SmackDown referee Jessika Carr filling
in on Raw last night.
According to WWE’s statement on the outbreak, talent will be quarantined for at least two
weeks, and will not be admitted back until they test negatively and show no symptoms
of Covid.
But someone will have to wait a lot longer than a fortnight to make their WWE debut...
Former multiple time TNA World and Tag Team Champion James Storm has revealed in an interview
with Ryan Satin that he was supposed to debut in WWE after WrestleMania this year.
Unfortunately a pandemic put an end to those plans, but according to Storm “We agreed
on all the terms…
It was signed.”
Storm had previously wrestled a few matches in NXT back in 2015, but re-signed with IMPACT
instead.
He said he’s still optimistic he’ll get to properly join WWE in the future.
How would you fantasy book his WWE debut?
Let me know in the comments because I’ll be replying to people SAYING BEER.
MONEY!
Just make sure once you’re in the WWE locker room, James Storm, you don’t do too much
‘fun loving.’
Our new, but also still, Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn has revealed WWE have reprimanded
him backstage for his attitude and how it can annoy other people - as he told the New
Day’s podcast.
“WWE made me aware of some of my own actions...For example, what I might perceive as fun loving,
let’s have some fun chat on the bus might be perceived as annoying.
I always only looked through my own lens, but being around these people with all these
different points of view starts making you look at yourself through their lens.”
Speaking of annoying, I had to watch Monday Night Raw this morning.
Here’s my review.
In about 5 minutes!
The episode opened with the debut of WWE’s latest faction: Oldtribution, which is made
up of: B-Shizzle!
Not Edge!
Heartbreak!
And Charlotte’s Dad!
They all came out to introduce the man they helped beat Randy Orton at CoC Rush, Drew
McIntyre.
And Randy interrupted Drew’s promo to say it’s not over until Raw’s creative team
says it’s over, and that Drew doesn’t know what Hell is truly like - not-so-subtly
planting the seeds for a Hell in the Cell match between them at next month’s Hell
in a Cell pay-per-view, where none of those legends can interfere.
Randy then left the building, even taking his bag with him.
I’m 100% sure that is the last we’ll see of Randy Orton on this episode, whose whole
gimmick is about appearing when you least expect him…
Drew issued an open challenge for the WWE Championship tonight, and OldTribution started
playing poker backstage - where I’m sure they definitely won’t be attacked by Randy
Orton later on.
Contrary to what your mum tells me, sometimes there just is too much CoC for one night.
So we got a Clash of Champions rematch next between Asuka and Zelina Vega.
Where they had the same kind of match, with the same kind of finish - Asuka further killing
Vega’s singles push dead by making her tap for the second night in a row.
Andrade came out to shout at her for losing, pointing out she’s nothing without him,
and then he lost to Keith Lee in a few minutes.
The smart thing here would be to put them back together, especially with Angel Garza
potentially out injured.
But WWE is on a mission to break up every single act in the company right now, to make
inferior combinations from the scraps.
Jerry Lawler then interviewed The Mysterio Family in the ring.
I’ve got no idea either.
Where Aaliyah questioned the life choices of anyone who sides with Seth Rollins.
Which apparently kind of includes her.
Rollins interrupted on the TitanTron to reveal Aaliyah and Buddy’s DM conversation, which
included Buddy’s ellipses of seduction.
“Hey, I just wanted to apologize again…”
“I hope you’re doing okay…”
Which, as your mum informed me, is online sex speak for ***
and then they *** on a turtle.
Aaliyah stormed off.
Buddy confronted Seth, and Dominic tackled him to the ground setting up a rare non-gimmicked
match between them later on.
And even without kendo sticks, or Mysterio family members at ringside, Dominic was still
really impressive.
The kendo sticks and Mysterio family members weren’t far away though, as Aaliyah stopped
Dominic from caning Murphy, leading to a roll up loss.
I’m really enjoying the soap opera fun.
But Seth has been feuding with the Mysterio family for about four years now and it should
probably end soon.
Natalylana took on Raw’s newest stars…
Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke.
Because Raw is Blonde.
Mandy won, and this all rather undermines the Draft next week.
The CFO$ entrance theme royalty scandal has taken another victim: Aleister Black’s awesome
music has now been replaced.
That aside, he had a really good back and forth match with Kevin Owens that got a decent
amount of time, and a really exciting sequence of near falls at the end.
Unfortunately, Raw doesn’t know how to finish matches at the moment, and they had Black
cost himself the DQ loss when he accidentally elbowed Drake Younger in the gut, and KO stunnered
him after.
Black has now lost both his KO matches, and his iconic entrance music has been replaced.
So much for that reported WWE push.
R-Truth, Akira Tozawa and Drew Gulak traded the 24/7 title between themselves in a backstage
skit, and then got a three way in the ring.
Which was almost more painful, because you could see how great all three guys are.
Yet they’re being wasted in rubbish comedy.
Truth retained.
After the Hurt Business had bullied producers and Ali backstage, MVP cut an in-ring promo
saying the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting
different results.
No, he’s not talking about Raw’s booking.
It’s about Apollo and Ricochet still feuding with him.
This turned into a really fun six man tag, complete with MehTribution light flicker,
and the Hurt Business getting their comeuppance - with Ali pinning MVP.
Bianca BelAir got a really fun vignette showing how much better she is at everyone, beating
a bunch of people in sprints, even when she gave them a headstart, and had to leap over
hurdles herself.
This was really good.
Although advice for the people she beat.
Maybe actually go faster than a light jog next time.
And the main event saw Drew McInytre’s open challenge be answered by a returning Bobby
Roode!
It’s great to see him back.
I love Bobby, even if he has dropped the moustache.
Returns after being out for this long are a great way to reset a character.
Give them a more credible edge rather than just Midcard of Evil filler like he was last
year.
Unfortunately, despite a decent match with Drew, WWE treated Roode exactly the same as
before, pairing him with Dolph Ziggler, and losing definitively.
Mark my words, Bobby and Dolph will be Randy’s henchmen come next week.
Speaking of, from outta nowhere.
After the match, the camera cut backstage to show a janitor walking shifilty around.
No, not Cedric Alexander.
Or a member of Retribution.
Or one of Tozawa’s ninjas.
It’s Randell Keith Orton.
The whole point was that he’d snuck into a restricted area in disguise.
Where he then went into Oldtribution’s poker room, put on some goofy night vision goggles,
turned off the lights and beat B-Shizzle, Not The Edge, Heartbreak and Charlotte’s
Dad up.
Orton then put his disguise back on, and snuck out away from security.
It was a smart way to get around having OldTribution not have to bump.
And I’ve seen a lot of people really enjoy the silliness of the angle.
Unfortunately I hated this, because it broke one of my production pet peeves.
Who is filming him here?
Why does he have to disguise himself if there is quite clearly a WWE camera crew following
him around?
Compare this to Batista’s return last February, where he dragged a cameraman to film his beatdown
of Flair.
That was awesome.
I found this one infuriating.
That was this week’s Raw in about 5 minutes.
Let me know what you thought of the show in the comments down below, where I’ll be replying
to people FROM OUTTA… pretending to leave, but then coming back at the end of the show.
I think Raw is stuck in pre-Draft purgatory.
They can’t start any new feuds because they don’t know what the rosters will look like
in two weeks time.
Which means we’re getting the same match-ups we’ve had for six months now.
Even good stuff, like Seth vs the Mysterios, is feeling increasingly tired and frustrating.
And I thought the Orton stuff was incredibly goofy compared to the excellently complex
psychology from his character earlier this year.
But at least there was no Raw Underground!
This week’s Raw is 2 out of 5.
Check out Roman Reigns’ sexy new look, and watch my review of Clash of Champions by clicking
the video on the right!
And what are the 14 greatest WWE video packages of all time?
Click the video below that to watch Adam Blampied’s latest list.
I’ve been Mr Davis, Jam that Jam.