Tonight’s episode of WWE Raw will feature more build towards Sasha Banks vs. Ronda Rousey at the Royal Rumble, as well as a likely confrontation between Finn Balor and Brock Lesnar/Paul Heyman.
Next Sunday’s Royal Rumble Pay Per View has an incredibly loaded card, and two of the most highly-anticipated matches will be from WWE Raw. Not only will Finn Balor take on Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship, but Sasha Banks will get an opportunity to put on a classic match with Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women’s Championship.
The Banks vs. Rousey match will be built by a strong tag match tonight. Banks and Bayley will team up to face Ronda and Natalya, who have been the best of friends, even after their Raw Women’s Championship match a few weeks ago. Nattie took Ronda’s side after last week’s argument between Sasha and Ronda, and tonight’s tag match between both teams should add more fire to Sunday’s championship match.
Balor has almost the entire WWE Universe on his side for his Universal Title match against Lesnar, but it will be interesting to see if he appears as “himself” or “The Demon”. An inevitable confrontation with Paul Heyman, with Lesnar potentially included, could help shed some light on the situation and put Balor over even more.
We’ve seen Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross, EC3, and Heavy Machinery on Raw and SmackDown Live, making appearances on both brands. Cross stood out the most with her in-ring work last week in a six-woman tag match, so can someone like Evans or EC3 stand out this week? And what about Otis Dozovic? What lies ahead for him after a strange appearance on Raw.
Bobby Lashley grabbed Intercontinental Championship gold for the first time in his WWE career, defeating Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose in Triple Threat action. Rollins and Ambrose are about to head into the main event scene, and Lashley is ready for a hopefully lengthy reign with the championship. It’s been a long road back for Lashley, but the beginning of a dominant reign will take place tonight – and I’m sure Lio Rush will have plenty of words.
There are a lot of loose ends to tie up for superstars and plenty of build that needs to take place before Sunday’s Rumble. We may also see how WWE handles The Revival on screen, especially with rumors swirling that they are interested in leaving due to WWE’s mistreatment of the Raw Tag Team Division.
WWE Raw airs at 8 p.m. ET tonight on the USA Network, so check back here for all the latest highlights, grades, and analysis.