WWE Raw preview (Dec. 13, 2021): Vince McMahon needs to follow his own advice

Raw airs tonight (Dec. 13) with a live show from the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minneapolis. This is the fourth Raw episode during the six week build towards Day 1 on January 1, 2022.

Vince McMahon wants you to expect the unexpected

Vince McMahon has spent the last couple weeks impressing upon Austin Theory the importance of expecting the unexpected. It’s interesting that McMahon is now all-in on that strategy, considering one of the most glaring problems with WWE is that Vince doesn’t open up his mind enough to subvert his own expectations about what a wrestler’s size and look means for their ability to work a match, get over, and make money. If Vince was more willing to expect the unexpected, perhaps Keith Lee or Adam Cole would be doing great things on Raw right now. The point is, Vince should heed his own advice rather than lecturing others about it.

McMahon at least tried to get the Raw audience to start expecting the unexpected a bit more by having Bobby Lashley show up out of nowhere during a commercial break to attack Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and WWE champion Big E. The champ now has his hands full with the top three heels on Raw.

Later in the show, MVP explained that it was disrespectful for The All Mighty to be left out of the WWE championship mix at Day 1. Bob is the former champ, after all. Lashley is expected to further make his case tonight for why he should be added to the title match at the pay-per-view, which is currently a triple threat between the other three guys. Then again, since Vince McMahon is so focused on telling us to expect the unexpected, perhaps Lashley will come out on Raw and explain why he doesn’t actually belong in the title match. Who the hell knows what to expect, right?

The rest of the title scene

The Street Profits will take on the Mysterios tonight in the final match of the RK-Bro-nament. The winner gets a future shot at Randy Orton and Matt Riddle for the Raw tag team titles. In the immediate short-term, though, RK-Bro might have some non-title business to take care of with Alpha Academy in the aftermath of Otis slamming Riddle last week on Raw.

Becky Lynch cheated to retain the Raw women’s championship against Liv Morgan in last week’s main event match. The door was kept pretty wide open for a rematch at Day 1. If WWE decides to book that match, they’ll probably add a stipulation or gimmick for the pay-per-view bout. If WWE doesn’t decide to book that match, that’s probably bad news for Liv Morgan.

WWE is having trouble finding contenders for Damian Priest’s United States championship who are actually a threat to win the title. Robert Roode’s lack of a televised entrance last week said all you needed to know about his chances of beating Priest. Dolph Ziggler attacked Priest afterwards, which probably means he’s doing the job for Damian tonight or in the very near future.

Carmella and Zelina Vega are the Women’s tag team champions. Queen Vega defeated Nikki A.S.H. in a singles match last week, furthering the ongoing story where Nikki is a loser and the reason why she and Rhea Ripley no longer hold the gold. Rhea is sticking by her side for now, but Nikki’s frustrations are growing.

Tamina was apparently the only women’s jobber interested in chasing down Dana Brooke for the 24/7 championship last week. Former champ Reggie helped Dana escape. Meanwhile, R-Truth and Akira Tozawa are still unsure if the rules allow them to take out Brooke in pursuit of the belt.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- Edge and The Miz are set for a match at Day 1. Miz thinks Edge is a shell of his former self but knows he can still bring it in the ring. Edge thinks Miz is an asshole who wasted far too much money on his shoes. Miz was then embarrassed when he botched the name of the pay-per-view fell to the mat after Edge feigned a punch. Look, Miz didn’t have Maryse by his side during that segment. He doesn’t stand a chance against Edge without her, so last week was never going to end well for the A-Lister. I’m sure Miz will have a better plan for tonight.

- Bianca Belair wrestled against Doudrop last week. Thing weren’t going Dou’s way, so she walked out of the match and got herself counted out. It appears that a rematch will be necessary to settle their issues.

- Omos was a big dummy last week and accidentally got himself counted. AJ Styles and Omos were eliminated from the RK-Bro-nament as a result, and cracks are finally starting to form in their relationship. AJ better do what he can to keep Omos as his ally, considering Omos is by far the superior wrestler, at least in kayfabe.

- Austin Theory stripped down for Vince McMahon last week and attempted to impress him by ambushing Finn Balor. I guess we’ll find out tonight if Vinny Mac was truly impressed by Austin’s actions.

- There are videos each week reminding us that Veer Mahaan is coming (back) to Raw soon. Veer might be okay, but he’s no Shanky.

What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?