WWE Raw preview (July 11, 2016): Final Big E-letion

Hope Detroit loves it when McMahons return, cause they’re getting their second dose this year.

The Headliner

No doubt feeling smug as hell after his UFC gamble paid off, Vincent Kennedy McMahon will try to pop a rating - and settle the “who will run SmackDown live?” issue.

After disowning his son and putting him in a Hell in a Cell match against the Undertaker at WrestleMania (or something. The details weren’t important - as WWE Creative has shown us), Vince took whatever incriminating material Shane had on him and put him in charge of Raw. Well, co-in charge, with his sister, Stephanie. Because there will be figurative blood (or something).

Since then, a parade of past General Managers have appeared to do comedy bits which end with the “punchline” that either Shane or Steph believes they’ll be running the blue brand when it moves to Tuesdays next week. WWE isn’t promising that Vince will name a SmackDown authority figure tonight, but they’re certainly teasing as much. And with a draft set to take place on July 19, they’re running out of time to tell us who will be in charge of each show’s selections.

The Title Scene

Right after that draft, WWE will have a pay-per-view (PPV). The main event of Battleground is a long-awaited Triple Threat featuring all three members of The Shield. Kind of weird how, between the brand split, Roman Reigns suspension and some mixed martial arts guy, Seth Rollins and the other guy are a little lost in the shuffle. Especially considering that the other guy is Dean Ambrose, WWE champion.

As if maintaining his spot on the A-List, weighing a potential reality show with his beautiful wife and trying to get chocolate syrup out of his vest weren’t enough for Intercontinental titleholder The Miz, now he has to worry about a battle royal which will determine his next challenger.

Women’s champ Charlotte may not like it, but at least she knows who’s coming for the belt. Sasha Banks has made her intentions very clear, and the way The Boss has owned everything WWE’s put in her way since letting her back on television, there’s no reason to think she isn’t the #1 contender.

Rusev may not be impressed, but with a patriotic win last Monday to close the show, it looks like Zack Ryder is coming for the Bulgarian Brute’s United States title. All he has to do is pick up the gauntlet RuRu threw down and say it to his face (sorry, A-Ry) tonight.

He’s on record as saying it’s a mistake, but Xavier Woods will join his fellow tag team champions Big E & Kofi Kingston in accepting the Wyatts invitation to their compound. Are they trying to top #FinalDeletion? Should they be? Is that possible?

Other stuff to keep an eye on:

- Seeing that John Cena was outnumbered in his battle against AJ Styles and The Club, Enzo Amore & Big Cass volunteered to cancel out those “cuppa haters”, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows. We’ll see the next steps on the way to a Battleground Triple Threat tonight.

- Another PPV match has already been set, when Becky Lynch tries to answer Natalya’s betrayal from Extreme Rules in a feud which started personal and is now just plain mean.

- Hopefully, WWE will continue building to the latest (and last for a while?) chapter of Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn by having them interact with Chris Jericho.

- Brock Lesnar had a good weekend, and he knows he’s facing Randy Orton at SummerSlam. He won’t be back until next week (and his Advocate won’t be on Raw either), but this will be mentioned tonight. How is the interesting part.

- Ostensibly put together to put over younger acts, Golden Truth beat Vaudevillains last week. As long as they gave us Breezango, it’ll still be a win.

- Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin were both called up from NXT, and have been on television lately and everything! Maybe they’ll get something to do other than be fodder in the battle royal tonight?

Two shows till the brand split!

What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?