WWE Raw Predictions: Drew McIntyre Will Betray Matt Riddle

WWE Raw is continuing its road to WWE Payback 2023, which is already shaping to be a fun-filled card with ongoing Raw feuds, such as Seth Rollins (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the World Title, Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus inside a Steel Cage, Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s Title, and possibly LA Knight vs. The Miz.

On this week’s episode of WWE Raw, Gunther (c) vs. Chad Gable for the Intercontinental Title as well as Glass Bros vs. The New Day for a future shot at the tag team titles are scheduled to take place.

In other news regarding WWE Raw, JD McDonagh is on the verge of officially joining The Judgment Day. Also, WWE has addressed the women’s tag title situation now that Sonya Deville is injured. They rewarded Chelsea Green with a new tag partner in Piper Niven to become tag champions.

It would have been more interesting and creative to see Green actually host auditions for her new tag team partner, as she requested. Nonetheless, it should be fun to finally see Niven get some TV time and show why she is an indomitable force in this division.

With that being said, the following will focus on the idea of Drew McIntyre betraying Matt Riddle on the road to WWE Payback 2023.

WWE Raw is scheduled to take place on August 21, 2023, live on the USA Network, and Drew McIntyre will betray Matt Riddle en route to PayBack.

Gunther vs. Chad Gable [Intercontinental Championship]

Gunther will defeat Chad Gable to retain his Intercontinental Championship because September 8 is the day he will surpass the Honky Tonk Man Record and he won’t be in jeopardy of losing that title until then.

Also, although he has been advocated for by popular demand, Chad Gable has not been built nearly well enough to be a major threat to Gunther’s IC Title. He has been in a comedic tag team for months and has barely gotten wins under his belt as a singles star. Despite how great he is in the ring and on the mic, Gable needs more momentum to end Gunther’s historic reign.

Prediction: Gunther

Drew McIntyre & Matt Riddle vs. The New Day [Tag Match]

Drew McIntyre needs to turn heel now. There were a plethora of rumors going around that McIntyre would turn heel upon his return, but that has not happened yet. He is still a directionless babyface who lost clean to Gunther at SummerSlam.

Now, he finds himself in a meaningless makeshift tag team with an also-directionless babyface in Matt Riddle. In order to provide direction for both McIntyre and Riddle, McIntyre will turn heel on Riddle during this match to set up a feud, and the legitimate team in New Day will win and move on to their tag title opportunity.

Prediction: The New Day

The Miz vs. Mystery Opponent 

During a backstage interview, The Miz said that he will battle someone more formidable than LA Knight to make a statement to his new rival. Since Miz was on commentary for Knight’s match on SmackDown, it is likely that Knight will return the favor on Raw.

Considering that Miz is a heel in the world of professional wrestling, it is likely that he will select a weak opponent or jobber to defeat as a way to insult Knight and get an easy win. Henceforth, the mystery opponent is likely someone with zero momentum, like Akira Tozawa.

The Hollywood A-Lister will easily win and gloat about it for weeks as if he just won the world title and/or won an Oscar for any of his movies that went straight to DVD. This is merely a means to give Miz momentum before his rumored match with LA Knight at WWE Payback 2023.

Prediction: The Miz

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