Retribution Member Knocked Out on Raw

Yesterday’s episode of Raw was not a good one for Retribution. ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt completely destroyed Mustafa Ali’s band of truth-seeking misfits after they lost to ‘The Hurt’ Business. Their bad night got worse after a member of their team was knocked silly.

Retribution member ‘Slapjack’, formerly NXT’s Shane Thorne, was part of the eight-man tag team match between MVP’s stable and Mustafa Ali’s faction. Slapjack faced off against Cedric Alexander, who knocked the Australian wrestler out with a vicious back elbow.

Cedric Alexander has a cracking array of moves. He uses his high impact finisher the ‘Lumbar Check’ and possesses an immaculate striking game. Part of his striking arsenal is a stiff back elbow that came to the fore on the season premiere of Raw. The maneuver caught Slapjack square in the jaw and caused the Retribution member to pass out momentarily.

His teammates could stall the match until he regained his consciousness. The match chugged along at a normal pace until Bobby Lashley locked T-Bar in the full nelson submission, which is now rebranded as the ‘Hurt Lock’.

Retribution not off to the best start under new leadership

Retribution did not have a great start in WWE. The revelation of Mustafa Ali as its leader painted a rosy picture for a moment; but losing to the Hurt Business hurt their legitimacy. The post-match attack by ‘The Fiend’ straight-up buried the new faction.

It will be difficult for Retribution to be taken as a serious threat on Raw. There is obviously hope, with Mustafa Ali being ridiculously talented and very charismatic. AEW’s Dark Order turned into a running gag on Dynamite every week, but after Mr. Brodie Lee decimated Cody and won the TNT Championship, they once again looked like a threat.

Retribution will get chances to redeem themselves in the coming weeks, as it is doubtful that WWE will give up on them so quickly. They will probably have a big part to play post Hell in a Cell and on the road to Survivor Series. The sooner fans forget about their burial on Raw, the better. What did you make of the faction’s abysmal night?

Read: Retribution suffers first loss in WWE