The Fiend's Revenge, Lazy Survivor Series Build and More WWE Raw Fallout

On the heels of the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, WWE set its sights on Survivor Series, lazily announcing the match card for the annual November extravaganza on Monday night's Raw.

The setup to that event dominated the night's festivities, which also featured the latest hint of The Fiend's impending revenge.

Who did Bray Wyatt's alter ego set his destructive sights on? How did Alexa Bliss perform in her latest showing as WWE's answer to Harley Quinn? And did Retribution manage to benefit from better booking this week?

Find out with this recap of the October 26 broadcast.

The Fiend's Revenge Makes for Intriguing WWE Championship Program

The scent of burning fire and the sound of screams dominated this week's Firefly Fun House, while the name "Randy Orton" ignited a rage in Bray Wyatt along with the phrase "burn the house down."

All hinted at Orton's 2017 feud with Wyatt, in which he betrayed The Wyatt Family en route to winning the WWE Championship.

The Fiend is Wyatt's response to those who have wronged him, and he set his sights on The Viper on Monday just 24 hours after Orton's latest championship victory. He stared down the WWE titleholder before watching as the new champion brawled with Drew McIntyre to close out the show.

With one segment, and without giving away any physical interaction between them, WWE Creative hinted at Orton's post-Survivor Series program in grand fashion. It is not a question of if but rather when The Fiend comes for his title and the revenge that has eluded him for three years.

If McIntyre gets in the way, he will also feel the wrath of The Fiend.

The idea of a layered, three-person feud over the WWE Championship is an intriguing one that brings a much-needed air of freshness to the McIntyre-Orton feud. With The Miz also holding the Money in the Bank briefcase, the main event scene on Raw suddenly feels like the brand's most potentially exciting division.

Alexa Bliss Relishing Role as the Harley Quinn of WWE

Is anyone having more fun in their current role than Alexa Bliss?

The former Raw, SmackDown and women's tag team champion has embraced her position as the twisted harlequin of WWE, and the result is some hellishly fun television. Case in point: Her appearance on this week's Firefly Fun House and her stellar showing in the "A Moment of Bliss" interview segment that headlined the broadcast.

Fun and laughing one minute, and deadly serious the next, she has been fantastic as The Fiend's partner in crime.

Bliss has worked with just about every woman on the roster over the last four years, so a break from consistent in-ring action to establish this new persona and her relationship with Wyatt has worked wonders.

Hopefully, The Goddess' devotion to the character leads to continued success for her and motivates WWE Creative to take risks with others in an attempt to keep them relevant without overexposing them in the ring.

Lazy Survivor Series Build Dominates Raw

How cool would it be if the battle for brand supremacy at Survivor Series actually meant something?

Monday began the four-week march to the Nov. 22 event with as lazy a buildup as you could imagine.

Matches were made between the opposing champions, with Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns being announced so matter-of-factly that you would think it was a mid-level jobber contest from a 2005 episode of Sunday Night Heat.

Worst of all were the qualifying matches for Team Raw. It was never explained why anyone would want to go through the trouble of competing for the right to be a part of the red brand's Survivor Series team. What do they get out of it? Does Raw benefit in any way?

With unspecified answers to both, the idea that AJ Styles, Sheamus or Keith Lee would give a damn about winning a qualifier to represent a brand that all three have been on for two months or less is comical.

Imagine how much more meaningful Survivor Series would be if WWE brought some levity to the matches rather than booking them for the sake of filling a pay-per-view card.

Retribution *Shakes Head*

Retribution promised anarchy and chaos but have thus far been beaten down and sent scurrying to the sanctuary of whichever boiler room they are shooting their promos in by The Hurt Business.

They have been total non-factors, a group that exists merely to fill up the midcard on Monday nights and build credibility for MVP and Co.

Monday was no different.

Mace, T-Bar and Slapjack were sent packing early on, Reckoning squirmed on the mat as she brushed away imaginary...bugs (?), and Ali ran like a scared kitten rather than a rebellious vigilante the moment he was faced with combating The Hurt Business as a unit.

The performers are doing everything in their power to make the most of the creative handed to them, but Retribution's reputation as a legitimate threat on Monday nights has been buried.

And no impassioned promo from Ali is going to rectify the fact that they look like a bunch of losers in cheap masks.