WWE Raw preview (July 26, 2021): Goldberg already needs a week off

Raw airs tonight (July 26) with a live show from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. This is the second Raw episode during the five week build towards the upcoming SummerSlam 2021 event on August 21.

Goldberg already needs a week off

WWE didn’t waste any time advertising the “Summer of Cena” shortly after John Cena made his surprise return at Money in the Bank. They wanted to make sure that pro wrestling fans knew which 15 dates they could go to a live show and see the face that used to run the place.

It turns out that the Summer of Goldberg isn’t quite as catchy or active. As of right now, Bill Goldberg is only being advertised for the Aug. 2 and Aug. 16 episodes of Raw. If that’s how things stay, that means Goldberg won’t appear live in the ring on Raw tonight.

He returned to WWE last week to challenge WWE champion Bobby Lashley. WWE says Lashley will formally respond to the challenge tonight. Bob has already declined the old man’s challenge via Twitter, so that should give us a hint as to what he’ll say tonight.

If Goldberg really does need a week off already, then maybe Lashley will demolish Keith Lee again in a singles match tonight. After all, Lashley needs someone to beat up on the weeks when Goldberg isn’t around, and WWE does love to book rematches.

The title scene

Nikki ASH successfully cashed in the Money in the Bank contract last week and became the new Raw Women’s champion. WWE’s teaser video for tonight’s Raw asks the question, “How will the women of Raw respond to their new champion?” while showing pictures of Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley, Asuka, Alexa Bliss, and Shayna Baszler. Could WWE be planning a multi-woman match for the title at SummerSlam?

AJ Styles & Omos successfully defended the Raw tag team titles against the Viking Raiders at Money in the Bank. They will have the opportunity to repeat that feat tonight with a championship rematch against Erik and Ivar. I can’t think of a good reason for why the vikings would be booked to win tonight after losing eight days ago, so this match is probably going to end with Omos being the MVP of his team again and carrying Styles to another victory.

Sheamus has defeated Humberto Carrillo on two consecutive episodes of Raw. I’d say it’s time to put an end to their feud already, which means Damian Priest should be looking to get his hands on the United States champion tonight.

Now that the Sexy Muscle Friends appear to be broken up, that leaves Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax or Eva Marie & Doudrop as the primary teams in the Raw women’s tag division. Considering that Jax finally kicked Reginald to the curb last week, perhaps Baszler and Jax will have a renewed focus on taking the Women’s tag team titles back from Tamina & Natalya. The champs did pin Baszler last week, but wins and losses probably don’t matter.

Speaking of Reginald, he’s the new 24/7 champion, which means he’ll have plenty of chances to put his acrobatics and evasive maneuvers to the test as he dodges jobbers left and right who are chasing him down for the gold.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- Mustafa Ali will reluctantly team up with Mansoor for a tag match, and that match will probably happen tonight. If Randy Orton’s current stay on the inactive list prevents a tag team championship push for RK-BRO at SummerSlam, maybe Ali and Mansoor will have a chance to break out in the tag division.

- After being screwed over by Jinder Mahal at Money in the Bank, Drew McIntyre obliterated Veer and Shanky with a steel chair last week. It’s not quite the Mega Powers exploding, but the former 3MB mates look like they are headed towards a match against each other at SummerSlam.

- The entire NXT brand was made to look third rate when NXT champion Karrion Kross made his Raw debut last week (without Scarlett) and quickly lost against Jeff Hardy. It sounds like Hardy will miss tonight’s show due to COVID, so Vince McMahon will have to find a different mid card guy to beat Kross tonight. What about Jaxson Ryker?

- Kofi Kingston was damn near squashed in a WWE championship match at Money in the Bank. Will Kofi address that loss tonight, or will he happily accept a demotion into the mid card ranks?

- Tonight’s event is one the 15 dates listed for the Summer of Cena. Does that mean John Cena will do something on camera tonight, or is he only there for a dark match?

What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?