WWE Raw preview (July 24, 2017): Will they let you down?

The red brand has a trio of big matches coming our way from Washington, D.C., and all eyes are on General Manager Kurt Angle.

The Headliner

The Hall of Famer booked all three of those matches, sure, but they’re not really the reason we’ll be watching Kurt’s every move.

For one thing, this will be the first week where Angle has his (kayfabe) son, Jason Jordan on the roster. The official preview for tonight over on WWE.com heralds the dawn of “the Angle-Jordan era”. Obviously, the announcement that JJ is Kurt’s child from a brief college relationship, put up for adoption and happily living a separate life until someone started blackmailing the GM about his existence was a bombshell - even if we’re still not sure why it was extortion-worthy information. It was also designed to elevate Jordan, and that’s where the hard part comes starts.

We’ll be wondering how, or if, they tie up the storyline loose ends. But we’ll definitely be watching to see how this plays into a push for the former NXT and SmackDown tag champ.

Meanwhile, Angle booked Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns for last Monday as a way to determine who would face Universal champion Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam... but the return of Braun Strowman ensured we didn’t get an answer. The Monster Among Men returned for the first time since Reigns tried to crush him in an ambulance to attack the Big Dog, and put Joe down whenever he got in the way, too.

A lot of us are hoping Kurt takes the easy way out here and puts all three guys in the main event for Aug. 20, but we wouldn’t be opposed to him trying to settle things by booking some more singles matches between Braun, Joe and Roman, either.

The title scene

Booking a match to determine Lesnar’s #1 contender didn’t work for Angle, but if at first you don’t succeed... Sasha Banks beat Women’s champ Alexa Bliss by countout at the last pay-per-view (PPV), and Bayley’s had Bliss’ number ever since their feud ended at the one before that. So, the Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection will take their friendly rivalry to the ring to see who gets a chance to make history in Brooklyn once again.

The Celtic half of the team holding the tag titles (Cesaro & Sheamus) seems to be off doing a Hollywood thing? Actually not 100% sure that’s correct, but they’re writing around them for some reason, and placing the focus on former champs The Hardy Boyz. Matt & Jeff keep coming up short against The Revival, but are Dash and Dawson breaking them?

Guess it’s still a title feud, since Intercontinental champ The Miz and his Miztourage are involved. But Dean Ambrose’s quest to reclaim that belt from the A-Lister has taken a detour into his past, with Seth Rollins coming to his aid to counter the fact Miz now has Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas watching his back. With Angle putting them in a tag match, and the Lunatic Fringe opting to make it a two-on-three handicap match, the ex-Shield mates will have to rekindle their old brotherhood, at least for a night.

With Akira Tozawa still tied up with Ariya Daivari, it’s not clear where Cruiserweight titleholder Neville’s next challenger will come from. Perhaps one of Alicia Fox’s ex-boyfriends?

Other stuff to keep an eye on:

- Though he’s been picking up wins over Elias Samson, Finn Bálor is still out for revenge in their no disqualification match tonight. And not just because the Drifter keeps writing bad songs about him. It probably has more to do with the blood Samson drew with that guitar shot to the head last Monday.

- Even though the Irishman isn’t done with Elias yet, Bray Wyatt is already taunting him in anticipation of their eventual showdown.

- Big Cass has issues with a lot of people on Raw. Corey Graves for outing him as Enzo Amore (and his own) attacker. Enzo for, well, being Enzo. Big Show for sticking up for Enzo.

Four weeks until SummerSlam!

What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?