4 Predictions for WWE Raw: April 17, 2017

A Potential Main Event

By the conclusion of their brawl last week, it was obvious that there is still a lot of bad blood between Samoa Joe and Seth Rollins. The two are on a collision course for a huge confrontation, which is probably another encounter set to take place at Payback. There is still plenty of airtime to fill before then, and so WWE must find a new direction here to keep fans engaged.

An easy solution to this is to take advantage of the new influx of talent to Raw. Should WWE choose not to have Miz collide with Finn Balor, this would present a great opportunity to give fans a unique main event. The Awesome One could team with Samoa Joe to face Seth Rollins and a partner of his choice. Now that he is considered to be a good guy, it makes sense from a storyline perspective for Rollins to select a familiar individual. A perfect choice is Dean Ambrose, whose current path on Raw is unknown.

Going down this path offers plenty of positives for the company. For example, it allows newly traded talents to ease into the transition of switching shows. While it can be tempting to thrust superstars straight into the spotlight, sometimes the smarter decision is to keep them in the background. The Lunatic Fringe personifies this belief, as he would gain nothing from being thrown into a low-profile match. In the previous slide, Finn Balor was mentioned as an ideal opponent for Miz, however, Ambrose has no options at the moment.

Until Payback is over, the Lunatic Fringe is probably going to lack direction. Because of this, his current involvement should only be used to enhance the rivalry between Joe and Rollins.