WWE Raw preview (Mar. 7, 2022): This could be the end of RK-Bro

Raw airs tonight (Mar. 7) with a live show from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the third Raw episode during the six week build towards WrestleMania 38 on the weekend of Apr. 2 & 3.

This could be the end of RK-Bro

Alpha Academy is set to defend the Raw tag team titles tonight in a triple threat match against RK-Bro and Seth Rollins & Kevin Owens.

It’s a good thing that Randy Orton & Matt Riddle won an Academic Challenge against Chad Gable and Otis, because RK-Bro hasn’t done anything in the ring to earn this title rematch. Ever since they dropped the titles in early January, RK-Bro has lost every televised tag team match they’ve had. This includes last week’s bout against the Street Profits, where the awkward finish indicated Orton might be hurt. He ended up wrestling at MSG over the weekend, so it seems like he’s good to go.

Owens and Rollins have all the momentum, as they’ve defeated each of these teams in separate matches in recent weeks. But tag titles have very little value in WWE, so the bigger thing to keep an eye on is what the WrestleMania implications of this match are for Rollins and Orton. They are two of the top stars in WWE, but it’s not clear who they will be competing with on the grand stage.

It’s hard to even guess at Rollins’ direction for WrestleMania given the story about Shane McMahon being sent home by WWE.

Orton’s WrestleMania path is more straightforward. He and Riddle are losing matches lately, and another high stakes loss tonight could perhaps lead to a split in the team. Their story together has lasted for almost a full year now, so a match against each other at WrestleMania is a fitting way to end it. From day one it’s been assumed Randy eventually turns heel on Riddle with an RKO out of nowhere. But what if Riddle is the one who betrays Randy?

That could be overthinking things, of course. Maybe RK-Bro will win the tag titles tonight and their feud with Gable and Otis extends to WrestleMania. That doesn’t sound like the Vince McMahon way of doing things with a top star like Randy, though, which is why I think there’s a decent chance we get a major angle at the end of the match.

The rest of the title scene

Becky Lynch defends the Raw women’s championship against Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 38. Belair used her hair to mark up the champ last week. How will Big Time Becks pay her back?

Finn Balor defeated Damian Priest last week to become the new United States champion. Priest turned heel afterwards, attacking Balor and blaming the fans for all of his problems. It’s possible they’ll have a rematch at WrestleMania and Balor will bring his Demon form to Texas. If that’s the case, let’s hope The Demon doesn’t flop around like a fish out of water this time, or fall off a malfunctioning top rope with zero explanation for why it’s broken.

WWE Champion Brock Lesnar is once again not advertised for Raw. He defended the title against Austin Theory at a house show over the weekend and was then beaten bloody by Roman Reigns. Perhaps Paul Heyman will show up tonight to give us his thoughts on all of this.

The 24/7 title scene has turned into Dana Brooke kissing Reggie and Tamina kissing Akira Tozawa, for some reason.

Queen Zelina Vega and Carmella have found new challengers for their women’s tag team champions over on SmackDown. There are zero women’s teams on Raw to keep their interest, so there isn’t much reason for them to appear on tonight’s episode. That is, unless Carmella and Corey Graves want to have sex live on television.

Other stuff to keep an eye on

- Edge went insane last week, turned heel, and beat the shit out of AJ Styles with two con-chair-tos. The occasional meltdown and heel turn out of nowhere is something Edge just happens to do every now and then, but he’ll be considerate enough tonight to offer the world an explanation for his heinous actions.

- Logan Paul and The Miz will appear in the ring tonight for a hometown celebration in Cleveland. Rey and Dominik Mysterio will surely try to ruin their fun after The Miz cost The Mysterios last week against Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander.

- The rumor mill first suggested that Kevin Owens was going to have a match with Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 38. That latest rumor has now downgraded it to a confrontation. I’m thinking by next week it will be a promo duel via satellite.

- Austin Theory named himself as Pat McAfee’s WrestleMania opponent. Is 76 year old Vince McMahon eventually going to replace Theory in that match? Probably, if the idea is to sell more tickets.

- Their circumstances are not the same, but many fans are wondering when we’ll see Asuka and Alexa Bliss on Raw again. Could they both be headed to the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal? That’s very likely where Doudrop, Liv Morgan, Nikki A.S.H., and Rhea Ripley will end up, at the very least. Let’s hope Jerry Lawler’s return tonight has nothing to do with that match.

- Tommaso Ciampa has been getting some time on Raw in recent weeks to build interest in his NXT storyline with Dolph Ziggler. It didn’t take long for WWE to change Ciampa’s theme music and make it worse, of course.

- Singles wrestler Omos is still a thing. He squashed T-BAR last week. Poor T-BAR.

- Veer Mahaan has set a record for coming. If Val Venis hadn’t lost his mind years ago, he’d have a stupendous WrestleMania iron man competition waiting for him right here.

What will you be looking for on Raw tonight?