WWE Raw preview (Feb. 5, 2018): 99 Problems

Team Red keeps heading west with a show on Monday, Feb. 5 in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Headliner(s)

There are a lot of questions in the Women’s division.

Which brand’s champion with Asuka choose to face at WrestleMania? When will Ronda Rousey arrive? Is she even going to be on Raw?

The answer to that last question is probably pretty easy. Do many crossover stars work Tuesdays exclusively? Heck, even John Cena turned “Free Agent” and returned to Team Red. The others are more interesting.

In kayfabe, the major question is who will enter the first-ever Women’s Elimination Chamber match in Las Vegas later this month to challenge Women's titleholder Alexa Bliss. It’s the question the official WWE.com preview for this evening’s show is asking. But as my boss already pointed out, there aren’t that many options. The decision is likely whether they want a veteran hand like Mickie James in there to help make the whole thing go smoothly, or would they rather give the exposure to both members of Absolution - Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose.

But that brings up another question - what’s up with Paige? By taking the injured Superstar off our screens for a couple weeks, and with all the other drama going on, WWE hasn’t had to address the issue of what to do with their young Superstar now that she may never be cleared to wrestle again.

So throw that in the box with our other queries. At least we know Ronda isn’t showing up this week, so we can kick that one down the road.

The title scene

Another part-timer who won’t be in town tonight is Universal champion Brock Lesnar. We will find out at least one more man who will compete to face him in New Orleans on April 8. Will it be Roman Reigns or Bray Wyatt joining Braun Strowman, Elias and Cena in the Chamber to battle for the #1 contendership?

With another assist from Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, The Miz is in the market for a new challenger for his Intercontinental title. WWE is teasing we might find out who that is on this week’s episode.

Jason Jordan is apparently dealing with a possibly serious injury, and The Bar are even getting wins against a team who seemed to have their number before they took the tag belts back from Seth Rollins and JJ in Titus Worldwide.

Is 205 Live still affiliated with Raw? Somebody ask DRAKE MAVERICK. If they do still work here, expect a six-man tag building to tomorrow’s first round matches in the Cruiserweight championship tournament.

Other stuff to keep an eye on:

- They got their own section for the official preview, which is definitely good news for The Revival. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder were not mentioned in the section on Cesaro and Sheamus though, so their build may just be so they’re ready for a future opportunity after beating Heath Slater and Rhyno a few more times.

- Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows also lost to The Top Guys last week. Do the only win when hanging out with Finn Bálor? Maybe they should stick near that guy. We hear he’s OVER.

- He may own some trademarks, but Woken Matt Hardy does not own Wyatt. Can he get some payback against The Eater of Worlds even though he won’t have a match with him this week? He can probably think of some way to DELETE his Elimination Chamber chances.

- Will there be any mention of Booker T and his bad intentions toward Corey Graves from the new announce team?

Three weeks until Elimination Chamber!

What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?