Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens Storyline Keeps Getting Better, More WWE Raw Fallout

WWE promised a special night for the February 7 edition of WWE Raw on Syfy. The first hour was to be commercial-free and multiple wrestlers would battle for the first time before entering the Elimination Chamber on February 19.

However, the advert-free pledge was not followed as clearly as expected, and the company failed to take advantage with surprisingly short matches throughout much of the night.

The show did set the stage more than ever for WrestleMania 38, and the women's Elimination Chamber match was set with five expected Superstars and one mystery participant.

Seth Rollins continued to take his opportunities while Kevin Owens was given the short end of the stick. KO defeated Austin Theory in their rematch and then helped The Visionary defeat Randy Orton and Riddle, but he is still waiting for the same attention his teammate gets.

AJ Styles beat Damian Priest to earn a United States Championship opportunity, while The Miz continued to play mind game with Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio, only to get embarrassed.

Raw may not have been great, but there is light at the end of the tunnel with some good shows on the horizon, including Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania.

Kevin Owens does not make friends. That has been his story for years. When an opportunity arises, he will always stab an ally in the back to get ahead. That is why his story with Seth Rollins is so intriguing.

For once, it feels more likely that KO will be the one who gets left behind. The Visionary is a self-centered character with the ability to manipulate people. He seems to have Owens under his sway, or at least he did until he started getting extra opportunities.

While Rollins is granted world title matches without earning them, Owens is simply trying to catch up. He pulled double duty on Monday's Raw and won both matches. Despite this, he has no clear match for Elimination Chamber or WrestleMania.

He won't get Austin Theory's spot after beating him, and AJ Styles jumped in front of him for a United States Championship opportunity. KO is soon going to start realizing Rollins is the only one benefiting from their alliance.

That is the recipe for a great WrestleMania match, which could make up for the lack of fans at their last show-stealing performance at The Show of Shows two years ago.

Owens and Rollins are two of the best performers and wrestlers in the business. If WWE lets them sell this story, it can steal the thunder from all the headliners come April 2-3.

Last week, Raw set the men's Elimination Chamber field; this week, the women's field got the focus.

Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Doudrop, Rhea Ripley and Nikki A.S.H. have all put their names in the hat, leaving a mystery sixth spot unfilled.

There is not a bad challenger for Becky Lynch in that line-up. While she has defeated Belair, Morgan and Doudrop, all three women have elevated their game to match Big Time Becks before and can do it again.

Ripley and Nikki are fresh challengers with a story behind them. The Scot is probably the most unlikely winner, but she should get a chance to at least show off during the match in Saudi Arabia on February 19.

Of the known options, Lynch vs. Belair or Ripley would be huge contests that could allow the Raw women's champion to pass the torch back to a young competitor. Morgan is an interesting challenger as well, though she has not been built at the same level as The EST of WWE or The Nightmare just yet.

Most intriguing is that final spot. Three women are waiting in the wings to return soon: Asuka, Bayley and Lacey Evans. The Sassy Southern Belle is unlikely to spark much excitement, but the other two could be big WrestleMania builders.

If Bayley can return from an ACL tear in seven months and immediately compete in the women's Elimination Chamber match, that would be incredible. However, The Empress of Tomorrow's injury is less defined, so her return feels more likely.

Regardless of what happens, Lynch will find a worthy opponent waiting for her on The Grandest Stage of Them All via the Elimination Chamber.

AJ Styles defeated Damian Priest in a sub-five minute bout with little build, setting him up for a rematch next week for the United States Championship.

If that doesn't spell the end of The Archer of Infamy's run, what else could?

Priest has skated by recently as the titleholder with little excitement. He is approaching 200 days as champion despite most of the interesting moments of his reign happening within the first 100. The second half has plodded along without any real rivals.

For a moment, it looked like he might be challenged by Kevin Owens, but plans for that seem to have changed. And while Styles is one of the best in the world, he does not need to add a fourth U.S. title to his resume.

The Phenomenal One is good enough to make any match at WrestleMania work, but Priest deserves more of a rub before he drops the gold. If he can legitimately defeat Styles and avoid the tired disqualifications that have plagued his reign recently, he could look dangerous again.

One would assume WWE has big plans for a man as imposing as Priest, but its creative team works in strange ways.

Few can touch The Miz when he is on form, but it's easy to tell when WWE has little idea of how to use him.

After a good series of matches with Edge, The A-Lister has now moved on to Rey and Dominik Mysterio.

No offense to one of the greatest luchadors of all time or his son who has impressed at a young age, but The Mysterios do not have much going for them as a tag team.

All of the hype that surrounded Dominik upon his arrival in WWE has been drained by shallow booking that has rendered his excellent debut against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2020 meaningless.

Maybe The A-Lister can add some character to this angle, but Sami Zayn tried to do something with The Mysterios only for WWE to grow bored with it. This rehash is destined for the same result.

Unless Dominik is going to turn heel or one of the two is going to make a serious run at singles success, The Mysterios are just around to remind fans of Rey's greatness. The Miz should have more important stories to tell.