WWE Raw Preview: A New Stable, John Cena, Seth Rollins

July 28th’s edition of WWE Raw will take place in Houston, TX in the Toyota Center.

There is still three episodes of Raw left before SummerSlam, so expect some progression in story-lines, but nothing earth shattering.

Intercontinental Championship Feud

Based on what happened during Friday’s edition of Smackdown, it seems like Dolph Ziggler will be involved in a match for the IC title at SummerSlam. Bo Dallas involved himself in the segment as well and beat Ziggler, so a triple threat match could be a real possibility.

Using WWE logic, I would expect Ziggler to come out on top over The Miz and Dallas on the upcoming show to make momentum swing his way. Maybe we could see Ziggler and a mid to upper-card face in Sheamus (if healthy), the United States champion, team up to face Dallas and Miz. If that were to happen and Dallas’ team wins, a battle for the Celtic Warrior’s title could happen at SummerSlam.

Overall, it seems like a feud that will sway back and forth before the PPV over the next three weeks.

Fandango’s Fall

Now that Fandango has lost both Summer Rae and Layla, he doesn’t seem to have a ton of direction. This feud has lasted for a very long time and will have to end eventually.

Zack Ryder picked up his first win in almost two years last Monday, defeating Fandango after the referee didn’t notice Layla pull his leg off the rope. If you missed it, check out the video of the finish from last week.

A re-match is probably in store for the next episode and likely will include more drama. I would predict that Ryder gets his second consecutive victory and make the WWE Universe very happy.

A New Stable?

WWE fans will be paying full attention to see what becomes of this group of Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston, and Big E.

Last week, after Big E and Kofi lost to RybAxel, Xavier Woods joined them in the ring and gave a powerful promo about finding purpose in the company. The Nation of Domination comparisons have been going on all week, but this may very well be to establish a new tag team.

The tag team division is extremely thin right now. The Usos just took out The Wyatts twice. RybAxel hasn’t been made to look very strong and there are rumors that WWE is looking to split them up sometime in the future. Goldust and Stardust have their promo for each of the main shows, but they haven’t been in a ring for weeks. A new addition of Kofi and Big E to the group with Woods leading them would bring a fresh match-up.

If it does not turn out to be to establish a new tag team, then this opens up plenty of possibilities. Do they add new members? Who do they feud with? Where do they fit on the card as a stable of mid to lower card wrestlers? It’s a lot to speculate on and depends how serious WWE makes them out to be.

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• Brock Lesnar WWE contract details revealed as per Fightful Select

This trio could go in any direction on Monday. We will have to see what WWE has in store.

Lunatic vs. Architect

The rivalry between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins is the hottest feud in the industry right now. These two Superstars have traded blows for nearly two months now and that could get stale but this battle certainly has not. It has been made to look personal, which has added to the drama between these two.

WWE has been pushing Roman Reigns very hard over the past 6-8 weeks as a singles competitor, being placed into main events of Raw and WWE World Heavyweight championship battles at PPVs. However, Ambrose seems to be the breakout member of The Shield. Seth Rollins has done a very nice job in his heel role so far, but the “Lunatic Fringe” has performed the best and is received the best by the WWE Universe. He seems to be on pace to become the company’s next anti-hero, if they fully see what they have in him.

Expect another exchange of blows on Monday, this time with Ambrose ultimately standing tall. Although, they have done a good job of making both look strong. Rollins will get an opportunity to look good as well.

McMahon vs. Bella

The rivalry between Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella is one of the best Diva angles we’ve seen in years. It’s making the division feel relevant since significant time is being put into it. It feels like an edgy program from the Ruthless Aggression era.

We saw McMahon get “arrested” last Monday after Flo Rida’s “concert.” She was taken away by the officers and stayed in jail until the middle of the night.

We’ll likely see a response from the Principle Owner of WWE on what happened. Maybe the anticipated match between the two at SummerSlam will be announced as well.

Roman Reigns vs. Plan A

Before Brock Lesnar was announced as John Cena’s opponent at SummerSlam for the WWE World Heavyweight title, Triple H brought out Randy Orton to be “Plan A.” However, Roman Reigns would come out of nowhere to attack Orton before he reached the ring. This would point to the recent rumors of Orton being the stepping stone for Reigns at SummerSlam before facing Triple H at Night of Champions.

“The Viper” and the former Shield member will likely brawl again. They will have to make Orton look strong, but Reigns has been made out to look strong in almost every episode since The Shield’s break-up.

Frenemies…what? Enemies…what? 

Last week we saw Paige finally pull off her heel turn. With the whole “Frenemies” story-line, we saw Paige constantly be on the edge of turning heel, but still treat Divas Champion A.J. Lee with respect until she snapped.

Expect the tension to heat up this week, with A.J. probably getting the best of the British Diva.

The 1 in 21-1 vs. The Invincible One

Last week, we saw Paul Heyman finally force Triple H’s hand and have him agree to Brock Lesnar becoming John Cena’s opponent at SummerSlam for the WWE World Heavyweight title. It was Lesnar’s first appearance since the night after Wrestlemania 30, where he defeated The Undertaker to end his streak at the event.

Cena was not there due to movie commitments. He will be on the show on Monday while “The Beast Incarnate” is not scheduled to be seen until August 11th, barring a change. That is the go home Raw before SummerSlam.

Cena will answer back to The Authority’s decision to go with “Plan C,” as it was announced on WWE Smackdown. A war of words between him and Paul Heyman would be pretty fun to watch and could easily highlight the show.

I wouldn’t expect any type of significant progress to be made on the feud on Monday without Lesnar being there. The anticipation will be there though for his next appearance, leaving the audience waiting and building hype towards the match.