WWE Raw preview (July 17, 2017): You Are NOT The Father!

Raw is in Nashville. Do we know anyone from Music City?

The Headliner

WWE can lead their preview with the Samoan Showdown to determine who will face e Universal champ Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, and we care about Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns. Really we do. After their electric face-off with the Beast Incarnate and his advocate Paul Heyman last week, how could we not?

Throw in the possibility Braun Strowman - last seen limping off in the Dallas night, since confirmed to be pulling a Johnny Gargano and not speaking to anyone about his condition - might return to be not finished with Roman? Or maybe start being not finished with Joe? Sadly, Brock isn’t booked for tonight, so that face-off will have to wait, but...

Sign us up for that.

But as much as we love South Pacific slobberknockers, we love some cheesy pro wrestling “drama” even more. And General Manager Kurt Angle exposing his own controversy to the world is gonna be something. We don’t know what. We don’t know if it will be good or bad (I’m predicting bad). But we’re tuning in for whatever it it.

It’s a secret so devastating Kurt thinks it could cost him not only his job, but also his family! It involves someone so dear to him, however, that he’s willing to risk those things to publicly stand by this person. And to stop the blackmail-y texts about it someone keeps sending to him and Corey Graves, but let’s stick to the part where he’s doing it because he told whoever his secret is that he loves them. That’s much more noble.

Is it a lover? A relative? What is Graves’ role? Why does it require a post-show live interview on WWE Network?

Enjoy the fun before you’re disappointed it’s just a vehicle to bring Stephanie McMahon back!

The title scene

Seeing as Sasha Banks defeated Women’s champion Alexa Bliss at the last pay-per-view (PPV) by disqualification and hasn’t stopped talking trash about her since, we know those two aren’t done with one another. But after it looked like Bayley might be moved out of the title picture following her own one-sided feud with Bliss, the Hugster pinned Alexa in tag action last week. The Goddess is beset on all sides, considering even her friend Nia Jax wants a title shot.

The tag titles remain around the waist of Cesaro & Sheamus, and they may be without an imminent challenger. That’s because the team they’ve been feuding with since WrestleMania, the Hardy Boyz, are suddenly dealing with a loss to Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows and a post-match attack by The Revival... not to mention an intellectual property fight over a gimmick they clearly can’t wait to bring to WWE.

Intercontinental champ The Miz and his Miztourage looked to move past their own long rivalry with Dean Ambrose by closing last Monday night’s show with an attack on Seth Rollins after his second straight loss to Bray Wyatt. Despite declaring he still didn’t his former Shield brother, Ambrose saved Seth from the three-on-one assault. Tonight, the Lunatic Fringe opens Raw by getting something off his chest... something which will hopefully clear up these interwoven programs.

Brand manager Titus O’Neil is negotiating to get Akira Tozawa another shot at Cruiserweight titleholder Neville following their balls-related run-ins at and after Great Balls of Fire. But the rebellious king doesn’t seem to care.

Other stuff to keep an eye on:

- Big Show didn’t like it when Enzo Amore asked if he attacked Big Cass a few weeks back, but he’s liked it even less since Cass started beating up Zo in public. The two giants came to blows over the Queens native’s new approach to business last week, and WWE is promising this beef is far from over.

- The Golden Age now features a win over R-Truth, so Goldust has that going for him.

- Some people just don’t appreciate a well-crafted song. Or whatever it is The Drifter writes. Finn Bálor pretty conclusively stated he doesn’t want to walk with Elias Samson when he kicked his ass last week, so we’ll see what’s next for either man tonight.

Five weeks until SummerSlam!

What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?