WWE Raw preview (Jan. 31, 2022): Ronda Rousey is scared of Becky Lynch

Raw airs tonight (Jan. 31) with a live show from Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is the first Raw episode during the three week build towards Elimination Chamber on Saturday, February 19.

Ronda Rousey is scared of Becky Lynch

Ronda Rousey is back in WWE and immediately won the Royal Rumble match. She’s set to appear on Raw tonight, but WWE isn’t saying for what purpose. After a nearly three year absence, it sounds like Rousey still hates wrestling fans. It’s possible that her main goal for tonight will be to shit all over the fans and establish herself as a heel.

Brock Lesnar also won the Royal Rumble match, and WWE is specifically advertising that he will show up tonight to announce which champion he’s choosing to face at WrestleMania. That WWE says Lesnar will make a decision, but doesn’t say Ronda will do the same, probably means we won’t find out tonight if Rousey is going after Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch or SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania.

The rumor mill indicates Rousey is eventually going to settle on Flair as her opponent. If that’s how this plays out, all of Becky Lynch’s trash talk about Ronda will prove true. Becky should be the obvious one in Ronda’s crosshairs based on their history, and Ronda just made quick work of Flair to win the Royal Rumble. If Ronnie doesn’t jump on the opportunity to go after Big Time Becks, it’s going to look like she’s ducking Becky to go after the easier championship victory at WrestleMania. Can you imagine how much more trash Lynch can talk going forward if Ronda intentionally avoids her this year?

Let’s hope Becky gets in Ronda’s face tonight to taunt her about this. After all, when Lynch won the Royal Rumble three years ago, she came out on Raw the very next night to select Rousey as her WrestleMania opponent. If Rousey doesn’t do the same tonight, she’ll look like a coward.

The title scene

Bobby Lashley defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE championship at Royal Rumble. Lashley was going to lose the fight if not for the help of Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman. Brock will definitely choose Roman as his opponent at WrestleMania. That’s not a prediction, it’s a spoiler. Therefore it’s safe to assume Bob needs a new opponent to kick off the All Mighty era. The rumor mill suggests WWE has no clue what to do with this title. Well, the Saudi Arabia Elimination Chamber premium live event is coming up in three weeks, so there’s a pretty good chance that Lashley is inside that chamber with five of the very best wrestlers from Raw and maybe even SmackDown. Speaking of that, is former WWE champion Big E officially back on the SmackDown roster? A little clarity would be appreciated here, WWE.

Alpha Academy are RK-Bro are supposed to have a scooter race tonight. I have no idea what a scooter race has to do with an Academic Challenge, but WWE gets the benefit of the doubt here thanks to how entertaining this storyline has been. The Raw tag team champions must find a way to defeat Matt Riddle and Randy Orton in tonight’s race after losing last week’s spelling bee. That spelling bee was followed by a singles match between Orton and Gable. Will we see the same between Riddle and Otis tonight?

Becky Lynch retained the Raw women’s championship by defeating Doudrop at Royal Rumble. If that coward Ronda Rousey is intent on choosing Charlotte Flair as her WrestleMania opponent, that means Bianca Belair will likely go after Lynch once again.

Kevin Owens defeated United States Champion Damian Priest last week by disqualification. Priest was booed after yet another terrible finish to his recent matches. Owens should get another shot at the title soon due to Priest’s actions last week. Unfortunately, both men were dumped out of the Royal Rumble like a couple of jabronis. In Priest’s case, he posed zero threat to Omos. In KO’s case, non-wrestler old man Shane McMahon tossed him out. If Owens can’t beat Priest for this title, Omos should probably come looking for the next title shot considering how easily he dominated Damian at the Rumble.

Queen Zelina Vega and Carmella are the Women’s tag team champions, partially because there are no other women’s tag teams on the active roster to challenge them for the belts. However, Brie and Nikki Bella did compete in the Royal Rumble match. Vega and Carmella can kiss those belts goodbye if the Bella Twins decide it’s time for a comeback.

Dana Brooke’s 24/7 title story is pretty much the same thing every week. Reggie is there to help her run away from other jobbers backstage who want the title. Sometimes they compete as a team instead and then run away from the jobbers afterwards. Let’s hope WWE comes up with a new idea here, otherwise it’s a waste of television time.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- What’s up with Finn Balor? After missing three consecutive episodes of Raw to start the year, he came back for one show to lose to Austin Theory, missed last week’s Raw, and wasn’t in the Royal Rumble match. This is lowest position Balor has ever had in main roster WWE.

- Will Seth Rollins show up on Raw tonight? Seth clearly has unfinished business with Roman Reigns on SmackDown, and there’s nothing for him to do on Raw other than grab a mic and talk about the Tribal Chief.

- How will the Mysterios, Street Profits, and Dirty Dawgs spend their time tonight now that it no longer makes sense to take turns throwing each other over the top rope and laughing about it?

- Alexa Bliss didn’t compete in the Royal Rumble match, which probably means she still needs more time in therapy.

- Nikki A.S.H. has made a habit out of attacking Rhea Ripley from behind. Rhea is still looking for revenge on her delusional former partner.

- After losing to Edge yet again at Royal Rumble, will The Miz find another way to avoid wrestling tonight? He still hasn’t wrestled a match on Raw since returning over two months ago.

- Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez weren’t good enough to make it into the Royal Rumble match this past weekend, and that doesn’t bode well for them going forward.

- AJ Styles was the Iron Man in the Royal Rumble, and Austin Theory had the next longest survival time. Styles beat Theory last week on Raw, but I don’t think they’re done with each other just yet. Will they find themselves locked inside a Saudi Arabian Elimination Chamber in three weeks vying for the WWE championship?

- Veer Mahaan is never gonna stop coming. This man clearly needs to see a doctor.

What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?