WWE Raw: Preview for August 11, 2014

We are officially less than a week away from SummerSlam!

Most of these feuds will probably escalate on the go home edition of WWE Raw. We should also get a better idea on predicting who will win their respective match next Sunday in Los Angeles.

We’ll also see some surprise guests for Hulk Hogan’s birthday celebration. If you have not heard the rumors yet of who will be showing up, think of a famous stable from the mid-late 90’s.

So what do we think is going to happen on WWE Raw? Let’s speculate.

When will the light click for WWE creative?

So a few weeks ago, we saw an interesting stable being developed by Xavier Woods. He seemed to have brought in Big E and Kofi Kingston. This was going to give all three of these guys something to do when they were just floating around the roster.

Unfortunately, this group seems to be no more. As the report indicates and as others have realized, WWE announcers have made no mention of the trio. Big E just jobbed to Rusev on last Friday’s Smackdown and Kingston has been working as a babyface during live events.

It’s unfortunate that WWE seemingly decided to nix this group. They could have been interesting if they battled for the tag team titles. Maybe there’s just not enough room on the card and they’re being saved for the next round of feuds? It remains to be seen.

Hollywood Heat

I was incredibly disappointed that the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship, Dolph Ziggler, lost cleanly after a heated backstage segment with Seth Rollins on Smackdown. It would have been fitting for Dean Amborse to interfere and cause Rollins to win by DQ or The Miz to interfere and let Ziggler win by DQ. Despite putting on a good match, it makes The Show-Off look a little weak.

I would expect Dolph to get over on Miz on WWE Raw and then lose to him at SummerSlam. It will upset the fans but that’s just the way how the company works.

We really need some “Bad News” for the Intercontinental Championship again.

Talk is Jericho

The Wyatt Family went over Chris Jericho last week, despite losing the chance to have Luke Harper and Erick Rowan on the sidelines for their match at SummerSlam. Bray Wyatt made it seem like he will have no problem not having them on his side during the match but we’ll see how long they actually stay in the back.

The overall feud between Jericho and Bray has been someone of a letdown. It hasn’t been terrible, though. Some of the promo work has been exceptional and a few of their contests have been quality for sure. I’m just not sure how much life there will be in this feud by Night of Champions. WWE Creative will have to get creative for this battle to last another four weeks.

I feel Jericho will go over Wyatt tomorrow, leading to Bray being the “underdog” for their match and him coming out victorious. Again, WWE logic can be kind of easy to read at times. Wyatt going over Y2J is needed, however.

Paige, this is not your house…yet.

The Paige-A.J. Lee feud is a match where we really have no idea which way it could go. They have been on pretty much even terms throughout their rivalry.

Lee came back last week on Main Event after being attacked by Paige over a week again Smackdown and fired back. As a result, she seems to be on top of this rivalry for now.

I’ve been preaching WWE logic so far but I don’t think this applies here. Paige will re-claim the Divas title eventually, in my opinion. I can’t see her being buried once this rivalry concludes. Mrs. CM Punk will win at SummerSlam, however.

Rusev Smash!

The Rusev-Jack Swagger fight has been entertaining. Repetitive at times but fun.

SummerSlam may be its conclusion. I’m not sure what else they could do for a third month that has not been done.

Rusev went over Swagger on last week’s Raw and soundly defeated Big E on Smackdown. Swagger should go over on WWE Raw but I can’t see him winning the feud. Losing at SummerSlam would put a blemish on Rusev’s track record and make him a less intimidating heel. If this feud goes onto a third month and Swagger wins next Sunday, Rusev will go over at Night of Champions since it would be a best 2 out of 3 by then.

It’s only a matter of time.

We know Roman Reigns is going to win at SummerSlam over Randy Orton and go onto Night of Champions to face Triple H. It’s inevitable. We have seen an extraordinary performance from Orton is this feud, though. He has made himself look like a legitimate heel for the first time in months. He’s not boring and he feels like The Viper again.

He’ll probably stand tall on this episode of WWE Raw but I expect him to excel as a heel again. It’s refreshing to see, even though he’s been a heel for nearly a year now. You have to wonder where he goes next after this. That could be something we speculate on after SummerSlam.

I’m Sold

We heard the spoilers before last week’s Smackdown about the stipulation that Dean Ambrose chose for his match with Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. A lumberjack match? After how Ambrose trashed the Money in the Bank briefcase last Monday?

Apparently, WWE wanted to pull a “swerve” on us since we know they’re so predictable.

At first, I was not excited for a lumberjack match. However, after seeing Dean’s promo to open Smackdown, I am sold.

He sold the fact that Rollins won’t be able to escape like he did last time along with that he’d have to get the people who he tore apart with The Shield over the past 18 months on his side. He made fans not care about the possible MITB briefcase stipulation anymore and made them appreciate the lumberjack stipulation and how it fits this feud so well.

I think Ambrose will go over on WWE Raw but it’s going to be very tough to tell who wins at SummerSlam. These two have been equal throughout this feud and it’s a tossup at this point. This means that WWE Creative has done their job well with a feud (why can’t this happen more often?). We’ll see what happens next.

SummerSlap

There’s been a lot of slaps to the face in this feud. Stephanie McMahon also brought out the Pedigree twice on last Monday’s WWE Raw.

The feud between McMahon and Brie Bella has been entertaining. Their promos have been fun to see and refreshing in the main event of the past two WWE Raw shows.

We saw Triple H get involved in the antics last week, leading to speculation that he’ll be named the special referee of this match at SummerSlam, which would add even more intrigue to this match.

They won’t close out the show with John Cena and Brock Lesnar expected to be on WWE Raw but I’m sure Bella and McMahon will provide something fun for the fans before next Sunday.

They’re actually in the building!

Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and Paul Heyman will all be in the same building for WWE Raw for the first time in this feud. If it wasn’t for that terrific promo video last week, there might not be as much hype around this feud.

It will be refreshing to see these three likely close out the show. Who will stand tall is a mystery. With everyone predicting and assuming that Lesnar will win, maybe Cena comes out on top. Maybe he becomes Superman and kills the momentum around Lesnar by defeating him at SummerSlam, causing everyone to become angry fans. I want to think that won’t happen.

No matter who comes out on top on WWE Raw, it should set up a great battle for next Sunday. I am looking forward to it.

What do you think will happen on WWE Raw?