WWE RAW - Best and Worst - AJ Lee’s in-ring return announced, Jey Uso turned heel?

Last night's Monday Night RAW, emanating live from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was a solid affair and featured AJ Lee's first RAW appearance in over ten years. We also saw multiple matches made official for WWE Wrestlepalooza, less than two weeks away.

In this article, we shall discuss the best and worst from this week's episode of WWE RAW, as we focus on the long-term character and storyline development, in-ring action, and pure entertainment value we got last night on RAW.

Best: AJ Lee's first promo in over a decade and everything that followed

Man, AJ Lee is brilliant! What a presence! For fans seeing her talk live for the first time, and fans seeing the icon do her thing for the first time in forever, it was a treat witnessing how Lee tells a story in the ring, with her unique demeanor and body language, and natural manner of speaking to the audience or addressing her opponents.

Lee came out to discuss why she went away from professional wrestling ten years ago, what she did in the meantime, how she focused on her mental health, and why she came back. When Becky Lynch came out to demand her Intercontinental Championship belt back from AJ, Lynch was at her usual hysterical best, and the dynamic between Lee and Lynch and how they interacted was simply incredible. The two may be the best female talkers of all time, bar none. Lych deserves a shout-out for her brilliant body of work of late; Sports Illustrated isn't wrong.

Seth Rollins, the World Heavyweight Champion, came out to assist his wife in procuring what is, admittedly, rightfully hers, but AJ Lee, you see, did not take kindly to his mansplaining. CM Punk came out soon thereafter to try and GTS Rollins from behind, and while The Architect escaped, he got incensed and eventually took the bait, accepting AJ Lee's mixed tag team match challenge. The biggest miced tag team match in professional wrestling history was thus made official for WWE Wrestlepalooza.

Worst: No Stephanie Vaquer on Monday Night RAW, and the concept of a contract signing

Tonight was supposed to be a contract signing between Stephanie Vaquer and Iyo Sky for the vacant Women's World Championship. However, Vaquer was not present in the building for an unspecified reason. As such, we are yet to see the two women interact since their match was announced, or as Adam Pearce would say, made official.

The problem, however, is what does "made official" even mean? Why contract signings happen for certain matches and not for others remains a mystery. If Pearce had already announced the match, what was the need in the first place, especially when the title is vacant? It is not like a heel champion wants to run away from the match. And if Pearce "made official" the match tonight, then once again, what purpose would the contract signing have served?

Furthermore, with neither Vaquer nor Sky adept at English, what kind of contract signing segment were they going to have? And getting back to the original issue, it seems as if just when Stephanie Vaquer is set for a major match or segment, one thing or the other happens to derail the plan. Stephanie Vaquer had earned her title shot at WWE Evolution back in July, almost two months. Even before then, she was not being featured regularly, despite being presented as a star. WWE has completely derailed all her momentum over the past few weeks, and it is indeed a shame.

Best: What's going on with Jey Uso?

Jey Uso's backstage interaction a few weeks ago with The OTC, Roman Reigns, seems to have once again messed up his mind, and Uso seems to be treading down a dangerous path, even after the return of his twin, Jimmy, and their reunion match being set against Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker at Wrestlepalooza.

A few weeks ago, Reigns had asked Uso to focus on the World Heavyweight Championship, and not on "friends," especially CM Punk. With Punk busy with Seth Rollins, Uso seems to be taking out his frustrations on an innocent LA Knight. Last night, Jey speared Knight for really no justifiable reason, after Knight helped Jimmy back to his feet as he threatened the BronSons with a steel chair.

We do not yet know what exactly is going on with Jey, and why he is descending into sudden acts of violence against those who should be his allies. Nevertheless, it finally gives him what he has lacked for the longest time: direction and mystique. Despite becoming World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania, the past few months had featured no character development, repetitive YEET promos, and a cartoonish personality and demeanor.

Now, we can see an evolving character with an intriguing and rather confusing direction on RAW, and we ask the right questions: "What is happening to Jey Uso?" "Why is he behaving this way?" "Did Roman Reigns intend to manipulate Jey Uso once again?" "Can Jimmy Uso bring Jey back to his senses?" And finally, "Is this going to lead to a more edgy Jey Uso, or a proper heel turn?"

Worst: Monday Night RAW ends the some way every week

Fans have grown tired of Monday Night RAW ending pretty much the same way every week, with The Vision either defeating or losing and then destroying some combination of RAW's top babyfaces as the show goes off the air. Technically, there was the Jey Uso/LA Knight angle, and while that may be intriguing, unless it materialises into a more concrete direction, it may just be a case of WWE throwing stuff on the wall.

Meanwhile, LA Knight continues to take the pinfall regularly on RAW, even if never clean. For the fans of The Megastar, that is a disappointing position for him to be in: as the guy who takes the fall when involved with WWE's biggest programs and WWE's biggest stars. At this rate, a World Heavyweight Championship win for LA Knight seems very implausible at any point in the future.