With the next four dates for Brock Lesnar’s WWE Raw appearances being announced, what could he do?
Brock Lesnar has been away from WWE TV since the post-WrestleMania 33 episode of Raw. This saw him and Paul Heyman call out Roman Reigns — who had just defeated the Undertaker at the Show of Shows. However, Braun Strowman made his way to the ring, eyed the Universal Championship and backed away from a potential fight.
Since then, we’ve had Raw‘s Payback pay-per-view take place, but without Lesnar. He also hasn’t factored into the Extreme Rules build, so he’s not a good bet to be involved.
However, the next four Raw appearances for the Conquerer have been announced. This doesn’t start for another month, but it’s worth looking into what he could do in his June and early-July outings on Monday nights.
WWE.com
June 12
Lesnar’s first return date will be Monday, June 12, in Lafayette Louisiana. It’s not the post-Extreme Rules episode of Raw, making for potentially one week too late to bring Lesnar back. That may always change, but for now, this will be his official return.
The first night of the Beast Incarnate’s return should see him get challenged for the WWE Universal Championship, with multiple Superstars lining up. By then it will have been over two months without this title appearing on Raw. So much for the 30-day rule Naomi had to adhere to, right?
With Braun Strowman out of the picture, until the summer begins, we should get someone different named the No. 1 Contender to the Universal Championship. Options include Finn Balor, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe and the Miz. Maybe we get a match with some of these Superstars involved, leading to something that tops the No. 1 Contenders Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship?
The winner will get Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire, which takes place on July 9. It’s the first advertised title defense for him, and the likely main event of the show. Who will end up facing him in Dallas?
Credit: WWE.com
June 26
Lesnar’s second appearance will come on June 26, from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. WWE typically puts on a quality show in the City of Angels, so we may be in for something quality here.
With Lesnar’s opponent having already been determined, we should see him and the No. 1 Contender for Great Balls of Fire square off. Who may that be, though?
For this, we’ll choose Balor as the No. 1 Contender. He never lost his Universal Championship, but had to relinquish it the night after SummerSlam 2016, due to a shoulder injury. So, the logic is there to put the former NXT Champion back into the mix — even if he doesn’t stand a great chance of pulling off the win.
Is this the week we see the Demon return? It seems too early, especially since he and Lesnar wouldn’t have stood face-to-face yet. A future show would work, which is similar to what happened with Balor’s feud with Rollins.
It’s possible we get Lesnar throwing Balor around — making it look like the much smaller man in this feud has no chance. That will lead to the side of Balor the former Next Big Thing hasn’t seen before.
Credit: WWE.com
July 3
The July 3 episode is Lesnar’s third Raw appearance. It’s also the go-home show for Great Balls of Fire — a PPV name we’ll understand how it came to exist. At least Lesnar’s going to be on the show, otherwise, it would have had the potential to be a great ball of disappointment. There’s still the chance of this happening, since it’s a “B-level” show, but we’ll see how the rest of the match card shapes up.
As for Raw, this may be the time Balor breaks out the Demon persona. He can scare off Lesnar and Heyman, or look to assault the Universal Champion — getting revenge from the previous week.
However, it’s possible Lesnar’s beatdown of Balor leaves the top contender to the title off Raw. He can sell the injuries, only to return at Great Balls of Fire as the Demon.
Holding off on using Balor during the go-home show would be questionable, which means Lesnar has to really destroy him on the June 26 episode of Raw. Will WWE go this route?
WWE.com
July 10
The July 10 episode of Raw is the post-Great Balls of Fire show. It will see the aftermath of what happens in Dallas, TX, including the Universal Championship match, with Lesnar vs. Balor battling for it in the main event.
For the Great Balls of Fire main event, we’ll predict Balor winning – however, by disqualification. This will be due to Strowman returning to Raw for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery, interrupting the match and causing it to end early. This preserves Balor’s Demon persona, which has yet to be pinned on the main roster (he got pinned with the war paint on in NXT in June 2016).
On this episode of Raw, Heyman and Lesnar can call out the Monster Among Men, who would come down to the ring. In order to save an eventual confrontation for later in their feud, Strowman can back away from a fight, much like he did on the post-WrestleMania 33 episode of Raw.
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Lesnar’s appearances on Raw will be highly anticipated, as it gets the Universal Championship back on TV. What do you think he’ll do across these four times on Raw? Who will step up as the No. 1 Contender to the title?