WWE Raw: Burning Questions to Address After May 2 Show

The May 2 episode of Raw had the unenviable task of following up a very strong Payback pay-per-view, which culminated with Roman Reigns successfully retaining the WWE World Heavyweight Championship over AJ Styles and Vince McMahon naming both of his children as the authority figures in charge of WWE's flagship show.

In certain aspects, Raw performed admirably, while in others, the audience was left disappointed by the aftermath of such a satisfying extravaganza. Either way, there were several burning questions on the tongues of the audience as WWE began laying the groundwork for the Extreme Rules event on May 22.

One question centers around the use of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Another, the United States Championship No. 1 Contender's Battle Royal. The third? A storyline that has stretched for far too long with nothing to show for it.

What are the answers to those questions, and how will those answers affect the company, its top Superstars and storylines going forward?

1. How does serving as glorified lackeys help Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows get over with the WWE Universe?

The first week or two of Anderson and Gallows' stint in WWE had the duo, formerly of New Japan's Bullet Club, appear to be two masterminds with plans larger than just attacking The Usos and pledging their allegiance to AJ Styles. It felt like there was something larger at work in regard to the newcomers. While that is almost certainly still the case, the tag team has settled into the role of lackeys—two guys clearly in the background as the distrustful associates of The Phenomenal One.

Instead of cerebral and dangerous competitors, they come across as oblivious heels too stupid to realize that Styles does not want their help, nor does he want it.

The edge that accompanied them those first two weeks, with their attacks from out of nowhere, has evaporated in favor of more straightforward heel tactics. The result is a generic twosome that should be more over on their own this early in their run than they are.

WWE Creative needs to correct that flaw or, regardless of who leads what club, they will always play second fiddle to the star at the forefront of the group.

2. Was Rusev the right choice to win the United States Championship No. 1 Contender's tournament?

Monday saw a return to relevancy of Rusev, a wildly effective heel whose place in WWE had been hampered by poor booking and inclusion in the painfully generic League of Nations. His victory in the Battle Royal earned him a shot at Kalisto's United States Championship, but was he the right choice for the win?

The answer, in short, is "yes."

Fans have witnessed Alberto Del Rio battle Kalisto far too many times in 2016 already, eliminating him from the equation. Considering Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin have unfinished business, they essentially cancelled each other out. Sheamus is still a heel, but a starring turn in this summer's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows could very well result in a babyface turn by SummerSlam.

That leaves Zack Ryder. As strongly as fans reacted to him, WWE is not particularly inclined to present many babyface vs. babyface programs. With AJ Styles and Roman Reigns already embroiled in such a feud at the top of the card, there was no way WWE Creative was going that route in the midcard.

Rusev is a strong character still incredibly capable of generating heat. He is the perfect brutish heel to program opposite Kalisto and finally get the smaller, masked Superstar over with the masses. Whether WWE Creative can produce a better story for them than they did Ryback is a question only time can answer.

3. Is the Golden Truth storyline ever going to end?

At the onset, it appeared as though WWE Creative was determined to form a tag team out of Goldust and R-Truth, two entertaining undercard stars with nothing else better to do. While the early segments showed some promise, the story has dragged on for far too long; the result being a muddled and messy situation that has now brought Fandango and Tyler Breeze into the situation.

The fact of the matter is that the story is not connecting with fans. It is wacky comedy that generates no laughs and has done nothing to better anyone involved. Truth and Goldust still are not a team, which leaves one to wonder what the point of five months of television has been.

The program has passed its sell-by date and does not fit the tone of the show, making it stick out like a sore thumb on Raw and SmackDown.