WWE Raw preview (December 7, 2015): Gender equity

Quick turnaround time between pay-per-view (PPV)s mean tonight is already the last show before TLC. Maybe that's a good thing, considering how poorly received Survivor Series was all of two weeks ago. A palate-cleanser could be just the thing.

Will tonight's Raw from North Charleston, South Carolina be the saltine cracker before a delicious bite, or more rancid snack food?

Get the Stables!

Been a while since we've seen this many factions in WWE. Sure, the ladies had an outbreak of them earlier this year that the division is still working to overcome. And groups like Evolution and The Shield have surely made their mark on the men's scene in 21st century.

But what's going on across Raw and SmackDown right now is darn near Attitude Era-esque.

In the WWE title picture, Sheamus and his out-of-nowhere (even for a cash-in) championship victory was rightly seen as not being a big enough draw or, more importantly, a big enough threat to top babyface Roman Reigns. So he got old tag partner King Barrett, Rusev and United States champ Alberto Del Rio as his League of Nations. Tag champs The New Day are loosely affilitated with the group (that whole "not a big enough of a draw" things again) and Intercontinental king Kevin Owens reportedly only dodged being placed on the team by a stomach bug.

Having been beaten up by the group ONE WHOLE TIME, Roman's buddies came to his rescue last Thursday night. Dean Ambrose and The Usos are being hyped as The Big Dog's back-up for tonight, and rumors have them getting a stable name of their own...creatively labeled The Family (as Jimmy & Jey are related to Reigns and WWE never tires of telling us that the former Shield partners are "brothers").

Meanwhile, another familial unit that just got done feuding with Reigns is still together. And the Wyatts plan to rehabilitate their street cred by beating up a couple of veteran "brothers" has resulted in even more "relatives" flooding into WWE. Tommy Dreamer returned to stand with the Dudleyz for an extreme reunion. So far, Bray and the Innovator of Violence have been put through tables...which somehow probably means Rhyno shows up tonight.

But wait! That's not all. Over amongst the gender that started this whole stables revolution, Team B.A.D. and Team Bella are standing strong (if the latter crew is missing one person with a record-setting championship run). And even though Team P.C.B. is a hot mess, with Divas champ Charlotte now administering tough love lessons to Becky Lynch at the same time she's feuding with ex-bestie Paige for the belt, the story is still about the relationships between the former(?) teammates more than their individual characters.

Now all we need is a Wolfpac...

What they should do (male version): If only there had been a PPV based around groups of four or more battling each other...

Jokes aside - they didn't know that the knee injury to Seth Rollins would derail their plans, and the tournament was a solid choice for a last minute audible - what's missing from these feuds between teams are stakes. The WWE title has both guys vying for it on opposite sides, but Ambrose is #1 contender for the Intercontinental title...why is he worried about supporting Reigns rather than chasing Owens?

At least with Dean you can play the "brother" card. Why is Alberto Del Rio, whose U.S. belt is coveted by Jack Swagger (I guess, or maybe The Real American just wants his racist uncle back?) throwing in with Sheamus?

New Day and The Usos are kind of on opposite sides of the League of Nations/Family beef, but their Triple Threat ladder match on Sunday also includes Lucha Dragons, who aren't even in reborn Latino World Order (yet).

Since we just snuck a tournament past Vince McMahon & Kevin Dunn, maybe we could get another? How about a series of matches pitting members of the League, Reigns' crew...heck, throw in the Wyatts and the Extremez...where we tally wins and losses. Most wins gets a higher number entry in the Rumble match?

It would probably have to be convoluted, but it might also get obsessives like me and at least some of you to pay attention each week. The competition can be used to build bonds or rivalries between teammates just as much as between enemies...all of which pay off at one of the biggest shows of the year.

When people are searching for reasons to watch, I say give them some.

What they should do (female version): With the guys all partnering up, follow the lead set by PCB and blow all the factions up...even if it means everyone plays a "jealous, catty chick" to do it. It might result in some eye-rollingly offensive stuff in the short-term, but it's the quickest way to get where Becky is really struggling trying to do things the right (meaning babyface) way. And that opens to the door for Sasha Banks to step up with advice to be more selfish. And that leads to...

Team B.A.E.

Which, when you think about it, was really the starting point of NXT's golden age.

So let's reset and try to recreate that. It can't be any worse than what they've been doing.

What we're afraid they'll do: Create scenarios that make no sense - like Rusev accepting a position as Sheamus' right-hand man when they were almost having a heel-vs-heel feud a couple months back, or Del Rio backing the Celtic champ based on the fact that they had a heated, almost never-ending rivalry for most of Alberto's last sting in WWE - in which a bunch of guys do stuff Reigns then has to overcome.

And have Lynch play the mid-card version of Sting while The B0$$ tries to get Naomi and Tamina to be as cool as Big E and Kofi Kingston.

Other stuff to keep an eye on:

- Honestly, I think I covered everything.

- Oh wait, Miz is maybe recruiting Neville for either a heel turn or to set-up a feud.

- And Stardust & Titus O'Neil are either going to fight or make a buddy cop movie.

It's (already) the go home show for TLC!

What do you think they should, or are afraid they will, do on Raw tonight?