Team Red is getting some reinforcements in Atlanta, just in time for Survivor Series.
The Headliner(s)
While Universal champ Brock Lesnar was chilling at home, he got a new opponent for this weekend’s pay-per-view (PPV). Jinder Mahal threw down the gauntlet for a non-title title vs. title match, but maybe we should have listened when Lesnar’s Advocate Paul Heyman laughed it off. The Modern Day Maharajah wasn’t about to hold onto his WWE championship, so now we’re getting Brock vs. AJ Styles.
Does The Beast Incarnate need a new game plan in order to prepare for the smaller, faster Phenomenal One? Does he even care? Heyman will definitely have some words on those subjects, but other than that, we’ll likely be waiting for Sunday for any real fireworks in this quick feud.
Tonight’s other return is more likely to pay immediate dividends in terms of story advancement. Will Roman Reigns get physical after missing a month to a viral infection?
His Shield brothers Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins lost the tag team belts to The Bar last Monday, but will they target Cesaro and Sheamus for payback, or focus on the SmackDown invaders who created the distraction which led to their loss? Maybe they’ll do both, but don’t expect another change to The Usos match in Houston.
Keep your attention on The Big Dog (just the way Vince McMahon wants). Is he ready to go? If so, will that be as part of a trios match against the longest reigning tag team in modern history, or as a last minute substitution for Kurt Angle’s battle against Shane McMahon?
Or maybe we’ll have to wait for Tuesday to learn some of these answers. Either way, this is as close to the full participation as Raw’s been in a while. And just in time. Because with two unanswered sieges and Team Blue adding John Cena, the ‘B Show’ was looking pretty strong.
The title scene
With all her potential challengers getting ready for - or in the case of Bayley, Dana Brooke and Mickie James, trying to get onto - Alicia Fox’s Survivor Series team, it looks like Alexa Bliss’ Women's title is safe. Unless something weird happens. And seeing as her PPV opponent could change tomorrow night, who knows?
Intercontinental champ The Miz is probably just happy he can focus on his match against United States champion Baron Corbin now that Braun Strowman is official for the five-man tag, and Kane looks set as The Monster’s main target after that.
Ditto Enzo Amore, except The Certified G is relieved now that WWE is back in the States, since those UK dudes likely won’t be around to punch him as much. Now he can figure out how he’s gonna screw over Kalisto and keep his Cruiserweight strap come Sunday.
Other stuff to keep an eye on:
- He’s probably done beefing with the General Manager’s son after taking a guitar to the face from JJ, but we still want to walk with Elias.
- Will Asuka stay focused on helping Team Red win on Sunday, or will there be some more streak-padding local talent in her future?
- The played nice on house shows, but how will Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe co-exist on the men’s five-man team? Finn could always recruit Titus Worldwide to help him deal with Joe, seeing as The Destroyer’s been destroying that crew since he came back. WWE seems to be waiting until after the PPV to re-introduce The Demon’s last rival to television.
It’s the Survivor Series ‘go home’ show!
What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?