RAW Preview: Riddle to possibly face 4-time world champion at SummerSlam, Popular star to debut a new character?
Welcome to this week's edition of RAW Preview! It's the go-home episode to Money in the Bank 2022, and the entire build is set to wrap up on the red brand's side of things.
While there is still one episode of SmackDown left, this will prove to be a more crucial show as we will likely see the line-ups in the men's and women's ladder matches get completed, and the championship feuds will come to a head as well.
RAW has arguably had a stronger build-up to the premium live event, and this is what you need to look forward to tonight.
#6. What will be the fallout for Riddle following his failed MITB qualification attempt?
Riddle didn't have a great last week. On the 17th June episode of SmackDown, he lost to Roman Reigns in a Undisputed WWE Universal Title match that stipulated that he could never challenge for it again as long as The Tribal Chief is the champion.
His alternative was to win the Money in the Bank (MITB) ladder match, but he failed to qualify as Omos destroyed him to take the spot.
Post-match, four-time world champion Seth Rollins attacked him and booted him out of the ring after Riddle disapproved of Rollins' actions against Cody Rhodes.
This seemed to hint at a SummerSlam feud between the two men. With Rollins focused on MITB, will we see the feud continue to be teased?
#5. Kevin Owens faces either Elias, Ezekiel, or Elrod on RAW
Last week on RAW, Kevin Owens was shocked to find Elias in the ring and wasted little time in interrupting his first performance in nearly a year.
Ezekiel showed up on the titantron, and fans saw a backstage segment featuring the two, essentially 'confirming' their separate identities.
Owens even mentioned a possible third brother, Elrod, when mocking the Elias family. This week, Owens will likely face one of the three as we could potentially see the popular babyface debut his third character after Elias and Ezekiel.
#4. Bianca Belair gets set for her new RAW Women's Championship challenger
Last week, RAW Women's Champion Bianca Belair had to share the unfortunate news that her Money in the Bank opponent Rhea Ripley wasn't medically cleared to compete in their Money in the Bank match.
As a result, a new contender needed to be crowned, and the top stars on the roster in Becky Lynch, Asuka, Liv Morgan, Alexa Bliss, and Carmella showed up. It was a bit of a surprise when Carmella beat all the other women to take Ripley's spot at Money in the Bank 2022.
Later, during a backstage interview, Mella attacked the women's champion. What will The EST of WWE do in response this week?
#3. The Street Profits to have one last stand-off against The Usos ahead of MITB
Last week on RAW, Angelo Dawkins put on an impressive performance as he beat one-half of the Undisputed Tag Team Champions Jey Uso. It was redemption from the previous week when Montez Ford lost to Jimmy Uso.
It will be interesting to see the two tag teams have one final stand-off this week. With both singles matches out of the way, will the former tag team champions dethrone The Usos and become the new Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions?
#2. The build-up to Money in the Bank is set to wrap up
We are DAYS away from #MITB and there are still THREE spots left in the Men's Money In The Bank Ladder Match!
Who do YOU want to see get their chance at the contract? 💰 https://t.co/HZD3rAeDJR
The Men's Money in the Bank ladder match has two more spots to fill, while the women's match has only one spot left.
We're likely to see the remaining spots fill up on both sides this week, with four superstars likely from RAW and three from SmackDown. Six women, three each from the two brands, have qualified for the ladder match. Hence, we could potentially see a star from the red brand take the final spot.
What will happen on the go-home show? Who will walk into Las Vegas as one of the final entrants to vie for the coveted briefcase?
#1. John Cena returns to RAW
It is impossible to encapsulate the last 20 years of life into one message, but the team @WWE make magic!
I’m excited and cannot wait to C the @WWEUniverse on #WWERaw! twitter.com/WWE/status/154…
John Cena is set to return to WWE for the first time in almost ten months. The last time we saw The Cenation Leader was during a six-man tag team match on SmackDown when he teamed up with Rey and Dominik Mysterio to take on The Bloodline.
His return will be to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his WWE debut. However, we could see it getting hijacked by US Champion Theory, who has been actively taking shots at the former face of the company.
With Bobby Lashley on the horizon, will Theory be able to confront Cena? Fans will have to wait and see how the 16-time world champion's return to WWE pans out.
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