According to Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue, a decision has been made on the members of WWE’s mysterious new Retribution faction. The group — who caused anarchy on this week’s Monday Night Raw — is supposedly comprised of NXT stars.
Dominik Dijakovic, Chelsea Green, and Vanessa Borne were mentioned as some of the names who will be involved in the faction, as they have all been on the verge of a promotion. Colohue also stated that their involvement isn’t random.
“There is an actual plan for these particular individuals. The idea of a new faction was something that was written at the last minute. From what I can tell, this was essentially the NXT call-ups who were coming up soon, who were sitting by the sidelines waiting for the opportunity.”
The Sportskeeda article also highlighted that Dijakovic recently deleted his entire Twitter history and changed the display and cover pictures to pitch black. Retributions’ members all wear black, and he might be teasing his involvement.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Mustafa Ali could also be a member. The stable has caused technical difficulties for the show already, and the segments were reminiscent of the Friday Night SmackDown hacker who was reportedly Ali.
It is also believed that the group’s purpose will be to loosen the company’s control over superstars. Ali fits the bill in that regard, as he’s been vocal about how the promotion has underutilized him in the past.
The report also stated that the reason why the group’s emergence might seem sudden is that they weren’t hyped up by the company beforehand. The storyline was originally leaked by a journalist, so the seemingly rushed and unfocused nature of the angle could be a response to that.
https://t.co/wNpELtByip has learned that the faction behind the attacks last night on #WWERaw is calling themselves RETRIBUTION. https://t.co/s40OfWWPTh pic.twitter.com/FUBfI6QFKp
— WWE (@WWE) August 4, 2020
The storyline could have been a reaction to the current ratings crisis. The Inquisitr recently noted that this week’s episode of the red brand’s show was reportedly an experiment, with officials throwing ideas at the wall in the hope that something would stick.
As recalled by WrestlingNews.co , Vince McMahon is keen on pushing new stars and involving them in compelling storylines. Featuring talents fresh out of the promotion’s development system in such a high-profile angle on a weekly flagship program suggests that he’s making efforts to do this.
Putting these performers into a team with each other will also ensure that they receive some television time. WWE is introducing more teams to the product in an effort to give a spotlight to underused wrestlers and main roster newcomers.